#she told me i was wrong. ''if you were trans there would have been signs.''

[contemplatingoutlander]

Ohio governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care for minors

This is a really important development. Gov. DeWine is a Republican, yet he listened to the common sense of advocates FOR quality gender-affirming healthcare for youth. Here are some excerpts from the article:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine struck down a bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors, breaking from fellow Republican governors’ precedent and preserving such care for residents beyond his state as well, because families of transgender youths who live in states with bans have been traveling to Ohio for treatment. [...] “This bill would impact a very small number of Ohio’s children. But for those children who face gender dysphoria, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound. Ultimately I believe this is about protecting human life,” DeWine said Friday during a news conference announcing the decision. “Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals.” “These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them,” DeWine continued. “Were I to sign House Bill 68, or were House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most: The parents.” [...] Hundreds of people testified in hearings on the legislation this year, with 87 people testifying during a state Senate committee hearing in early December that stretched past 11 p.m. A majority of them testified against the bill, and many of those who supported the ban flew in from out of state to testify. [color emphasis added]

A different but related WaPo article is also worth reading.

Her story fueled anti-trans bills. Now, she’s fighting them.

This article is about a detransitioner, Carey Callahan, who at one time opposed gender affirming care for youth but now realizes she was wrong. Callahan and 19 other detransitioners were among the people who testified against the bill and in support of gender-affirming healthcare.

Here is an excerpt from Callahan's testimony:

“The proponents of this bill have not produced a patient who detransitioned or felt regretful about the treatment they received who attended one of our six pediatric programs,” Callahan said. “Quality health care prevents detransition — not a lack of health care. The rigor of Ohio’s six programs prevents detransition, which is why you have not heard of even one detransitioner who received pediatric gender-affirming care in Ohio.” [color emphasis added]

[bloodfromthewound]

Animal Mother

Description: A trans woman with no future agrees to become a surrogate mother for a pack of supernatural creatures.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: breeding, pregnancy discussion, transformation, blood

Alice sat in a creaking chair in a musty, cramped office to sign her life away. It surprised her how easy it was. The woman before her, with thin gray hair of an elder yet the rippling muscle of a girl in her prime, smiled and showed Alice where to sign on each page of a thick stack of papers. It was a contract, and upon its completion Alice would no longer be her own person. Somehow it felt wrong to do it surrounded by ashtrays, filing cabinets, and stray food wrappers, but Alice wasn’t about to back down.

When she had finished with the last page, the woman shoved the papers into a manila folder and turned to an ancient beige computer on her desk to type away at it. “There you go, that wasn’t so hard was it?” the woman croaked. “I’ll just need to get you into our system and then you’ll be assigned your duties, room, and all that.”

“Yes ma’am,” Alice said without looking up.

Staring down wasn’t much better; her body awkwardly filled the chair around her. She was skinny where she wanted to be chubby and chubby where she wanted to be skinny, and if Alice looked at herself for too long she stopped seeing anything remotely feminine in herself. Thankfully she’d had the foresight to wear a hoodie and jeans that day, so she could collapse into boymoding for the time being.

The woman waved a hand. “Oh please no ‘ma’am,’ now that you’re one of us you can call me Cathy, Cat, or Ms. Berkshire if you really must.”

One of us.

The thought alone was enough to make Alice’s heart leap. She grabbed each side of the chair in her hands and squeezed until her knuckles were white. “Yes, Ms. Berkshire,” she said, still not looking her in the eye.

Ms. Berkshire typed with the flat of her fingers to not disturb her long, decorated nails. Each one had a small scene on it, which the woman had proudly shown Alice when she had first arrived. She only spoke again when asking Alice for her basic information.

When Alice gave her age, Ms. Berkshire whistled. “Twenty-one on the dot,” she said. “You didn’t waste your time once you cleared the age requirement, did you?”

Alice shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t see a reason to. I don’t have anything to look forward to, and the benefits pay out as soon as I join.”

“If you joined only for the money, honey, there’s plenty of easier ways to sell yourself.”

If Alice had been the woman she dreamed, if she had been born how she felt, she might have agreed. Instead, she shook her head. “Not for a girl like me,” she said. “Nothing that’s better than this.”

That was enough to make Ms. Berkshire leave her alone until she’d finished entering Alice’s information in the computer. Once she finished, she took a swig from an old cup of coffee and smacked her lips. “Well, whatever kind of girl you are, we all appreciate you joining us,” Ms. Berkshire said, and extended a hand. “Welcome to the pack, may you bear us many children.”

…

When Alice had first gotten her hands on an information brochure for the pack, she had passed it off as a joke. It had advertised the group as a pack of supernatural humans living in among lonely hills and trees to keep to themselves. More than that, the brochure she’d gotten off her roommate had specified their desire for women who could act as surrogates for those who couldn’t normally carry a child.

Being someone who thoroughly lacked the parts necessary to carry a baby, Alice had been ready to throw the pamphlet away when she had noticed, in small text at the bottom, that the position was open regardless of gender identity or body. That alone had been enough to get her to call, and when the person on the other end had told her, quite enthusiastically, that trans women were more than welcome to be surrogates, she’d asked to know more.

It all seemed too good to be true at first. She’d have a considerable monthly stipend, free room and board, amenities provided, and on and on; all she’d have to do was get pregnant…somehow. The catch came when the recruiter who’d visited her apartment told her that, in no uncertain terms, the benefits would only continue so long as she bore children or otherwise served the pack. If either of those were no longer possible, they’d let her go and she’d back to step one.

Thinking back on it, Alice wasn’t sure what had gotten her to agree after that. To some degree it must have been the idea of radically altering her life that way. Without opportunities greater than being a middling barista or pretending to be a man in an office, a big change was appealing. So, she supposed, that’s how she found herself signing those papers and getting put into a black sedan to be driven to the pack’s compound.

Ms. Berkshire sat with her in the back of the car while a silent man drove them on narrow roads, over ancient bridges, and beneath massive trees to reach the home of the pack. For as talkative as she had been earlier, Ms. Berkshire kept quiet on the drive. That was more than fine for Alice, who amused herself by looking out the window and wondering if she’d ever be allowed to leave once they got her to the pack.

“You don’t have to look so glum,” Ms. Berkshire said, finally breaking the silence. “The paperwork is just for legal reasons. The pack is very nice, you’ll see, and you’ll find a wonderful donor among them.”

“Do I get to choose who I’ll, uh, be a surrogate for?” Alice asked.

“Not typically,” Ms. Berkshire admitted. “If compatibility will be a problem, you can have your contract nullified.” She patted Alice’s arm. “Besides, surrogacy doesn’t require you to be around the parent all the time. You will be more than welcome to keep to yourself between fertilization and birth.”

“I guess that’s good.” Alice pulled her arm away. “Wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve done for nine months.”

“That’s the spirit!”

The car thankfully didn’t have to travel much further before it arrived at their destination. The pack’s home was located deep in the woods, and had evidently been refurbished from some sort of ancient castle. Its primary building sat on a hilled rise above the rest of the buildings, and all the compound was ringed by walls topped with razor wire. A river flowed around the buildings into a large lake at the center of the vast clearing among the trees.

Ms. Berkshire nodded to the defenses, noticing Alice’s staring. “More people in this day and age are accepting of the supernatural, but there are those who want us dead for one reason or another. This isn’t just any hideout, but a safe haven for all kinds of creatures.”

The car was stopped at a gate just past the trees where a cloaked figure checked all of their IDs. He gave Alice a long look but didn’t say a word before waving them on. Through the gate, the car crawled up a smooth path towards the compound’s walls. The driver stopped in a courtyard just beyond and got out to begin unloading Alice’s luggage.

Alice had been told to pack all she could, but in truth she didn’t have much to bring along. Most of what she’d ever owned in the world was still at her parents’ house, where she was not allowed to step foot in unless it was as a man. Everything else had fit neatly into a single large suitcase and an old canvas bag. The driver seemed almost embarrassed to hold them for her, so she took her own things to carry them herself.

It was still daytime, but the outer courtyard was deserted. Alice had heard that supernaturals didn’t like coming out in the day, but it still unnerved her the way it was so silent. Ms. Berkshire led her through a gate and into the inner courtyard, flanked by high towers overlooking a massive stone hall. She checked her phone, nodded, and put it away again. “You are assigned to a room above the great hall, number two-zero-two. You are not yet expected to present yourself in the great hall, so now would be a good time to rest.”

“Shouldn’t I get a key?” Alice asked.

“The door is already is synced to your fingerprint,” Ms. Berkshire said, then bowed. “This is where I must leave you and return to my office. I will visit occasionally, but your care is out of my hands. Do try to stay out of trouble, Ms. Glass.”

Ms. Berkshire didn’t look back as she got in the car and was driven away. Alice was left standing in the middle of the pack’s compound with her luggage in both hands and no one else around. Once the shock wore off, she heaved a sigh and entered the great hall.

The great hall was, to no surprise, a really massive hall with wooden floors, a huge fireplace at one end, kitchens to one side, and the rest of the room filled with tables, chairs, and cutlery. It, too, was deserted and Alice began to wonder if someone was playing an elaborate practical joke on her. Whatever the case, she shrugged and headed up a set of stairs beside the entrance that took her to the second story.

Unlike the hall with its decorations of art, tapestries, flags, and so on, the second floor was spartan. It contained only a single hallway that ran the length of the hall and a half dozen doors with room numbers on them. Room 202 was right near the stairs and sure enough, among all the rustic decoration and design, there was an electronic fingerprint reader on the handle. Alice pressed her thumb on the machine and heard the door click open.

The apartment was large, if sparse. It was more like a loft than anything else, with a single large room and a bathroom separated from the rest with a heavy privacy curtain. The floor was polished wood just like the bed frame, dresser, kitchen table, and other assorted kitschy furniture. Alice would have sworn she’d gone back in time were it not for the modern refrigerator and other kitchen appliances as well as the router next to the bed.

“Well, at least the place has wi-fi,” Alice groused to no one in particular.

She hopped up onto a bed larger than any she’d ever had and laid on her back. The bed was pushed against the back wall near the bathroom and had a window above it spilling light inside. There was a nightstand as well and, thankfully, a sticky note with the wi-fi password written on it.

Once she’d connected her phone, Alice checked her messages. She frowned upon finding out that she had nothing new, beyond a couple spam emails. It wasn’t like she’d told everyone she knew that she was going out to the woods to be a breeder for all time, but she’d have thought someone would have noticed she was gone.

After a bit of scrolling through the news in an attempt to find something interesting, Alice sighed and put the phone away. The air was warm and the castle rooms didn’t seem to have very good air conditioning, so she slithered out of her jeans and hoodie as fast as she could. Laying back on the big bed in nothing but panties and a bra, the sheets cool against her skin, was like heaven. So much like it, in fact, that Alice promptly fell asleep.

…

It wasn’t until sometime later that knocking woke her back up. Alice raised her head in time to see the room’s door open and usher in two strangers in identical brown robes. One—a tall woman with gray hair, round glasses, and thick thighs—was dragging the other behind her. The one being pulled into Alice’s room seemed to be a girl about Alice’s age with dark eyes, darker hair, and a short body equal parts chubby and muscular. The older woman shut the door behind them with a thump before shooting a grin Alice’s way.

“It’s so wonderful to finally see you here!” the older woman crowed. “My name is Harley, and I will be your pack mother.” She bumped the girl with her elbow. “And this is Mercury Hart. She is to be your first donor. While I go run a bath, why don’t you two get acquainted?”

Harley didn’t give either of the girls a chance to object, and hurried off past the curtain to start filling the tub. Alice sat up on the bed, suddenly conscious of being in her underwear, and waved. “I’m Alice,” she said.

The girl nodded. “I know, they gave me your file to read,” she said. “I’m Mercury. Did they tell you anything about me?”

“No,” Alice said, which was all she got to say before Mercury began talking again.

“Well, the first thing you should know about me is that I am a Beastling,” Mercury said, “or, I guess, that I’m trans. That isn’t as important, though. Do you know what a Beastling is? Well, if not, we are a species that can take the form of animals who blessed us from birth. Many animals can do so and so we tend to be a mix of creatures. I’m part bear and wolf and part bull and a bunch of other things.” She seemed out of breath, but didn’t even slow down. “There aren’t many of us left because we got hunted a lot so we need surrogates to help carry our children and that’s where you come in, so I guess that means we’ll know a lot about each other.”

Mercury had to take big gasps of air after she’d finished and rubbed at her eyes. “Sorry, I talk a lot,” she said. “My last mate told me it was annoying. Sorry. Let me know if it bothers you, please?”

Alice blinked a few times before shaking her head. “It doesn’t bother me,” she said. “I guess it’s good to know who the other parent will be.”

“Exactly!” Mercury grinned. “I want our baby to be the happiest kid there’s ever been, so I hope I can do stuff to help you while you’re pregnant. Will this be your first time?”

“Yeah, uh, definitely the first time.” Alice leaned in close on the bed. “My file said I was trans, right? Like, there weren’t any errors?”

“Of course it did,” Mercury said. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.”

Harley pulled back the bathroom curtain in one sudden move and clapped her hands. “The bath’s ready,” she said. “We are running later than I thought, so hurry up you two. Unless Alice wants to break her contract, we’ll need to have her ready for the ceremony in the great hall as soon as possible.”

It took a moment before Alice realized that she really could refuse to go be made a breeder for the strange girl before her, but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. The setup wasn’t perfect, but it was better than what waited her back at her dingy little apartment in the city. So, she was more than happy to slide off the bed and walk into the bathroom.

The room was almost as big as her bedroom in the old apartment had been, Alice noted. It had a large sink, thick cabinets on either side of a tall mirror, a standing claw tub, and what looked like some sort of pressure washer shower on the other side. Alice dipped one finger in the bath water and smiled when she found the it was still hot.

“Alright young lady, let’s get you in the bath,” Harley said. “This isn’t just to get you clean, either. You stink like the outside world, and a fair few of us can’t stand that stench. We’ll need to get you covered in Mercury’s scent before meeting anyone else.”

“Like, you want her to pee on me?” Alice asked.

The sudden laughter from Harley made Alice take a step back in surprise. The older woman patted Alice’s back while still giggling. “No, sweetheart, she’s just going to hold you in the bath tub until you’re good and covered in her scent, then I can get you two dressed, oiled, painted, and all that.” Harley looked Alice up and down. “Now strip before the water gets cold. You too, Mercury. We don’t have any time to waste.”

Alice reached up to undo her bra, but found that Mercury was already undoing the clasp. The girl’s hands were soft and moved quickly, sliding Alice’s bra off without missing a beat. When her hands looped in her panties, Alice made no move to stop Mercury from pulling them down.

For the first time in a couple years, Alice stood naked in front of someone else. Well, two people, but Alice tried to keep her attention on Mercury. She wrapped her arms around her pudgy tummy to try to let her future mate get a look at her boobs that flopped lazily away from each other and the small penis tucked away between her legs. Mercury, for her part, didn’t react in any negative or positive way, only nodded with something Alice hoped was approval.

The other girl didn’t hesitate in undressing. She unclasped the robe she wore and let it fall to the floor, leaving her naked before Alice. Her heavy bosom met the curves of her hips in one smooth motion that Alice couldn’t help but stare at. She blushed when it became evident that exposing herself had begun to make her sizable cock begin to stand on end.

They probably would have kept gawking at one another if it weren’t for Harley giving Alice a tap on the shoulder. She obeyed and climbed into the tub, embracing the warm water that rose up to her ears. Mercury followed soon after and rested against the far end. With a look from Harley, Alice pulled herself between Mercury’s legs and rested there with her head on Mercury’s chest.

“Is this okay?” Alice asked. “I mean, for getting her scent on me.”

Harley grinned. “It will do quite well,” she said. “Now, I will leave you two to get acquainted and all scented up. I’ll go prepare the other tools and with any luck we’ll still be on time for the ceremony.” She disappeared through the curtain again, and Alice was once more alone with Mercury.

Mercury’s heart beat softly beneath Alice’s ear. Her skin was smooth, and the small, dark hairs on her chest made it softer. Alice wrapped her arms around Mercury’s waist without thinking, and while it made the other girl jerk in surprise she was allowed to settle in. “Is this alright?” Alice asked.

“Yeah, I mean, I think so,” Mercury stammered. “Is this okay with you?”

“It is,” Alice said.

“You don’t have to do this too long if you don’t want,” Mercury continued. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything. I’m sorry, is this weird?”

“You apologize a lot.”

“Sorry.”

Alice giggled and looked up at Mercury. “You know I kind of figured that someone who was going to breed me would be more…forward.”

A patch of blush spread across Mercury’s chest. “Beastlings are so few that when a test found that I can have children I was told I needed to. My parents died when I was a kid, so if I don’t continue the line that’s it for our family.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Alice said, “I didn’t know.”

Mercury waved a hand. “It’s fine. Really. I barely remember them, the others here raised me and I didn’t think much of it. It’s just, well, I’m halfway through my twenties and it’s starting to feel more and more like it’s my job to continue on who I am, you know?”

“I guess that makes sense.” Alice shrugged. “My family kicked me out when I was sixteen, so for the past five years I’ve mostly been trying to get away from them. I guess I never thought much about continuing their legacy or whatever.”

“I’m sorr-” Mercury began, then shook her head. “I mean, maybe it will make you feel better to help continue my family’s instead? If that’s not…weird, or anything.”

The other girl’s heart was racing, so Alice took Mercury’s hand in her own and squeezed it. “It’s not weird,” she said. “I signed up for this because I didn’t want to be staring down whatever time I have left at dead-end jobs pretending to be a…to be someone I’m not. I’d rather help you make a family than make some bitchy lady’s coffee while she yells at me.”

That made Mercury giggle and she squeezed Alice’s hand. “That sounds like a good deal to me.”

Mercury helped Alice apply a few soaps to herself, which managed to scrub out whatever sweat and grossness had lurked in her tangled, curly hair for the past week. Then Mercury held her for a bit longer. It was supposed to be for the scent, Alice knew, but that didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate it. Then came a knock on the wall next to the curtain and they both scrambled to get out of the tub.

In the time since they’d gotten in the bath, Harley had set up a blanket on the room’s floor and spread out a large number of bottles around a large mixing bowl. She beckoned Alice over and Mercury followed so that they were both kneeling on the blanket. The cold air on Alice’s wet body made her shiver, but since Mercury didn’t ask for a towel neither did she.

“Now that you have Mercury’s scent on you, we can make you up for the ceremony,” Harley said. Her hands drifted over the bottles before coming to a large one covered in pictures of flowers. “Mercury, sweetheart, would you cover her in this first? It will prime her for the paints.”

While she grabbed the bottle, Mercury turned to Alice and smiled. “Is that alright?” she asked. “You can still back out of all of this if you wish.”

Alice shook her head. “I can’t go back, all I can do is go forward.” She raised her arms and smiled. “Lather me up, girl.”

Harley laughed and began to pour various colors into the bowl and mix them together. Some sparked, some smoked, and some reflected no light at all. Alice began to realize that not all of what she was seeing was natural, but that didn’t stop her.

While the paints began to mix into a color Alice’s eyes couldn’t decide on, Mercury squirted half the bottle she was holding all over her hands and began applying the liquid to Alice’s body. Her hands moved quickly, not daring to linger on any one part of her. Alice even had to grab Mercury’s fingers and press them to her breasts or else the girl would have ignored them entirely. That elicited a squeak from Mercury, which made Alice grin.

It took a while for Mercury to finish. Eventually Alice took the girl’s hands in her own and guided them, lest they leave parts unattended. She guided Mercury to gently cup her balls and coat her cock in the thin liquid, and showed her how to rub it all over her ass and thighs. By the end, the poor girl looked more like a tomato than anything else. Alice kissed one of her hands with a proud glee.

“Alright, now lay on your back,” Harley instructed. “This won’t hurt, but you may feel some weird sensations where the paint is applied.”

“Weird how?” Alice asked.

“You’ll know when you feel them.” Harley helped her lay back and set the bowl at Alice’s side. The older woman dipped two fingers in the mixture and began to apply it to Alice’s torso, beginning around her breasts.

Alice couldn’t see what was being drawn on her, but it felt like some strange sort of markings with the way Harley swooped and dashed her fingers around. At some point her entire chest went numb besides the occasional tingle like someone was pricking her with a hundred needles at once.

When she’d finished with that, Harley gathered more paint on her hands and trailed a line down towards the space between Alice’s bellybutton and her crotch. She began to paint more finely there, with small, precise movements that made Alice feel like someone was poking her with a stick over and over. It was unpleasant, but Alice was determined to stay still.

Mercury got up behind her and lifted Alice’s head onto her lap. Looking up at her, Alice smiled and Mercury returned it back. “This is so the changes will take,” Mercury said. “Without its magic, none of this would be possible.”

“What sort of changes?” Alice bit her lip. “Like…so I can have a baby?”

“You’ll see,” Mercury said, “but yes, for things like that.”

Harley added a few more touches to Alice’s stomach and then smiled. “All finished,” she said, and cleaned her hands on a small crimson cloth. Then, she produced two garments: a silver robe for Mercury and a cape of the same color for Alice. “Put these on.”

Alice started to pull the cape over her chest, but a look from Harley made her stop. Instead, she just let it hang from her back like the world’s nakedest super hero. Mercury, though, was quick to slip into her robe and cover herself up. She looked like she was going to cry from happiness in being clothed again, which made Alice lean in to give her a hug.

Everything finished, Harley helped Alice and Mercury up and led them out the door. The first thing Alice noticed when she’d stepped into the hallway outside was how loud it was. A rumbling din wafted up from the lower floor of the great hall filled with laughing, singing, and yelling; and all of it mixed with the smells of greasy food.

“You two will go to the center platform,” Harley said as she led them down the stairs. “You’ll receive your instructions there. Good luck, girls!”

Sure enough, in the time she’d been upstairs someone had set up a big round stage in the middle of the great hall. Despite the noise, it seemed like only a few dozen people were in the entire place; not enough to fill even a third of the tables. They were largely clustered around the stage, eating and drinking and laughing. Most of them looked human enough, but a few of the gathered beings didn’t look like people at all. As far as Alice could see, they ranged from people with cat ears to those who looked more like plants or movie aliens.

Almost everyone began to stare once Alice and Mercury were spotted walking down the stairs. They didn’t call out to them, thankfully, but instead watched in an oppressive silence. Had it not been for Harley in front of her, Alice would have run down the stairs just to escape the eyes. When she reached the floor and got to lead Mercury to the platform it felt like a mercy.

To her surprise, the platform was covered in blankets, pillows, and various other soft things. In the great hall with its ancient opulence, having a ready-made, modern bed raised over everyone stuck out. Yet, Alice was glad for a chance to step behind Mercury and avoid those who stared at her chest and below.

Once Harley had taken her seat, whatever ceremony lay in store began. The lights awkwardly installed high overhead dimmed and a spotlight was thrown on the stage. Another illuminated a woman walking among the tables before the stage in a golden gown. It shimmered as she moved and sparkled like it was made of starlight.

The woman was taller than all around her; taller than anyone Alice had ever seen. She had bright, almost white eyes and black hair which fell to her shoulders. When she strode towards the stage, Alice took an involuntary step back. The woman noticed and smiled with a mouth full of bright, white fangs all in a row as if they had been stolen from a shark.

“Welcome, Ms. Glass, to Castle Supernatural,” the woman thundered in a voice that had no use for a microphone. “We are very thankful for your decision to join us. I am Reine Mira, and I lead our merry band of misfits in this castle.”

Her comment got some laughs from the audience, and she waited until they had died down to continue. “While our recruitment methods for surrogates have become, admittedly, less conventional we still wish to honor you as we can, Ms. Glass,” Reine said. “As the world presses in on the supernatural on all sides and seeks to suppress us at every turn, the opportunity to invite a human to carry our next generation is a rarity. We hope we may honor the trust you have put in us.”

Alice found her throat caught a hold of anything she tried to say and held it back, so she only nodded and did her best attempt at a curtsy. For her part, Reine seemed to enjoy the attempt and clapped her hands. “Now, Ms. Hart, you have been instructed on what you must do this evening?” Reine asked.

Mercury carefully nodded, then answered, “I have, ma’am.”

“Then you may proceed if Ms. Glass gives you her approval.”

Beneath the bright light on them both, Mercury took Alice’s hand in her own and raised it to her chest. “Will you do me the honor of bearing my children?”

Every eye fell to Alice. She looked Mercury in the eyes and did not hesitate. “Absolutely,” she said. “Whatever happens, I have a far better future here than any place else.”

“Then lay back on top of me and we will begin,” Mercury said. In one motion she slid off Alice’s cape and let it fall to the stage floor. “You can trust me, I will not hurt you.”

Alice turned to face the crowd and Reine while letting her legs give out so she could fall back into Mercury’s waiting arms. Compared to the gentle touches before, Mercury’s grip on her was like iron, and there was no fear of Alice falling further.

Mercury’s hands, freed of their timidness, snaked down Alice’s midsection and towards her belly. There, her nails raked over the patterns painted on Alice’s skin. Whatever she did to them, the marks began to glow and heat, causing Alice to gasp.

The hands continued on their journey and cupped Alice’s crotch in one hand. The warmth spread down as well, enough that Alice’s cock began to raise itself to attention. Mercury not only didn’t stop it but encouraged her erection, stroking Alice’s hardness between her fingers. Alice squirmed in Mercury’s gasp and whined, but there was nothing she could do about the way her girldick eagerly stood at attention.

When Alice had reached full mast, Mercury changed tactics. Her fingers reached up Alice’s shaft and pressed against the sensitive head. The moans bubbling up in Alice’s throat were cut short as she felt her cock, impossibly, begin to fold under the pressure. Like a fire lit between her legs, Alice cried out as Mercury began to push her penis back in. The symbols on her stomach were glowing so bright that Alice couldn’t see beyond them to what Mercury was doing, only feel it.

She felt the way her girldick folded inward as if it were a jack in the box, and how the feeling of her balls hanging between her legs receded. There was a feeling like she came, but it emanated from every point on her body besides her crotch. The pain and pleasure mix caused Alice to double over, and Mercury had to dedicate her free hand to keeping Alice from landing on the stage floor.

At last Mercury’s hand met the base of Alice’s crotch and the burning subsided. The great, yawning lack between her legs caused Alice’s knees to buckle and she fell fully to the floor. Thankfully the blankets and pillows there softened her fall. She attempted to get up on her own, failed, and rolled over on her back.

Without the harsh glow, Alice was amazed to find that where a rigid girlcock had been was now, incredibly, a vagina. She reached down, grasping for it like she were looking in a cruel funhouse mirror. When her hands drifted over its—no, her—clit, Alice shivered. It was, somehow, real and very much hers.

Mercury offered Alice help standing up. “Now you see why the parts you have aren’t necessary to joining,” she said. “How does it feel?”

“Like a dream,” Alice said, doing her best to wipe at her eyes rapidly filling with tears. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything.” Mercury kissed Alex’s cheek and giggled. “Just allow me the honor of giving you my child, if you so consent.”

Alice kissed Mercury back on the lips. “I do,” she said.

Some in the audience let out audible gasps and what Alice hoped were sounds of affection. Mercury carefully undid the cord keeping her robe together and slid it from her shoulders to drop to the floor. While Alice had gained a vagina, Mercury had gained a bed of thick, black hair across her arms, legs, stomach, and chest. Her soft girldick was gone and replaced with something far more animalistic, pink, and throbbing with a knotted bulge at the end.

Mercury reached for Alice and lifted her off the ground without trouble. Alice’s legs dangled in the air while Mercury positioned her over the large, dripping member and began to slide her down. Alice’s new cunt opened and eagerly took in Mercury’s slick cock while Alice curled her toes and pressed her face into Mercury’s fur.

The fur on the Beastling woman’s chest was soft and its smell thick with need. Alice could feel Mercury grow and change around her while she took inch after inch of dripping dick into her pussy. Mercury grew taller and her arms bulged into something closer to paws that gripped Alice’s round ass and gave it a nice slap. Alice was embarrassed how much it made her moan like a wild animal.

Once Alice had reached the base of Mercury’s cock, not counting the knot below, Mercury began to bounce her up and down on her member. Alice’s face burned. Her cunt was dripping wet and the sound it made when it hungrily took thrust after thrust of Beastling cock was the loudest in the room. Alice could only imagine the way she looked, naked and filled before the crowd while Mercury used her like a sex toy.

Mercury’s new throbbing member was so large that Alice’s clit rubbed against it with every motion. Each time she was thrust upward, Alice whined and shook in Mercury’s grasp. Claws dug into her back and each drop of blood was met with twice as much wetness from her cunt dripping to the floor.

When her orgasm came, Alice wasn’t ready for it. She didn’t just cry out, she screamed as if she’d been shot. Her arms and legs shook while she wrapped both against Mercury’s bestial body and held on. Pulses of desire and ecstasy pumped up through Alice’s spine and spread through her body. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes, but still Mercury pumped her cock into Alice’s shaking cunt faster and faster. She could only imagine the way her round ass looked to the crowd, jiggling with each of Mercury’s thrusts.

Alice’s scream was met with a howl from Mercury. The woman, the beast, grabbed Alice on each side with claws that sank deep into her skin and shoved her down on the thick knot lying at the base of Mercury’s cock. It wrenched itself inside, spreading Alice’s pussy every which way and giving her something else to moan about. Its thickness was far more than anything Alice had ever had inside her, but her new body welcomed and embraced the pain like an old lover.

Cum flowed into Alice’s cunt sticky and hot, pumping in her as needily as Mercury had been. It flowed deep into Alice and lit up the belly sigils once more, each one a different color. Alice saw stars, galaxies, everything at once. She slumped into Mercury’s embrace and let the woman seed her new womb. As far as Alice cared, her body belonged to the beast of a woman wrapped around her. She welcomed her cum and the children it would bring, panting and calling out affirmations of love for Mercury. If the Beastling understood, she gave no indication, instead only petting Alice’s back.

Excited murmuring came from the audience. Alice couldn’t see, with her head still to Mercury’s chest, but she could feel the way that the room’s mood changed to one of celebration. Harley and Reine came up and both began rubbing Alice’s back and petting her head and making excited noises.

“You did perfectly, Alice!” Harley exclaimed. “I haven’t seen a ceremony so successful in ages.”

Reine ruffled Alice’s hair. “You did well, Ms. Glass,” she said. “Thank you for the gift you have given us this night.”

While they talked, Mercury lowered herself to the bedding below and rested on her side, letting Alice look up towards the others. With Mercury’s cock still embedded firmly inside her, Alice could do little to move, but she didn’t mind.

“So I really did it, I’m going to have a baby?” she asked at last, looking up at the older women above.

“Yes, if tonight was any indication you will certainly bear Mercury a healthy litter,” Reine said, bowing her head. “We will help you through every step in the process, of course.”

Alice touched a hand to Mercury’s chest. After all the excitement, the Beastling woman had fallen asleep. Her animalistic body and long, snouted head rose and fell with each breath. Alice gave her a kiss right over her heart.

“Will I be having kids for others here, or just with Mercury?” she asked in a small voice.

Harley and Reine looked at each other, then back to Alice. “As your pack mother, it will be my job to help you give birth and figure what comes after,” Harley said. “This is the beginning of a long journey for you, and the rest can wait. For tonight, I suggest you enjoy yourself and a job well done.”

Reine pulled a blanket over them both, and Alice wrapped it tight around herself. She opened her mouth, shut it again, then nodded. “I can do that,” she said. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

“Wonderful!” Reine crowed, and gave Mercury’s side a pat. “We will leave you here. Rest well, and let us care for you.”

While the two older women went to attend to the gathered supernaturals, Alice smiled and looked down at Rein. She patted her belly. Mercury still throbbed inside her, but it was no longer a primal sensation; it was, instead, the beating heart of the life they would share. Alice closed her eyes and curled herself up closer to her Beastling breeder. It was a good night, and for that Alice was finally, truly happy.

[gonzo-rella]

Headcanons: Being the Nonbinary (Second) Youngest Pritchett Sibling

MASTERLIST | AO3 | KO-FI

Relationship(s): The Pritchett-Tucker-Dunphy family x nonbinary!reader (platonic/familial)

Warnings: Descriptions of coming out and canon-typical ‘not understanding the queers’. (Let me know if I need to add any)

(A/N: I haven’t watched all of Modern Family yet, though I’ve seen up until season 8 and the occasional later episode. This is highly self-indulgent, and I’ll probably end up writing some more fics based on this premise; feel free to request them!)

Growing up, there may have been signs that you were a little ‘different’; maybe not.

If there were, Jay chose to ignore it.

Some suspicion would only arise after Mitch’s coming out(s).

Whenever you realised you were nonbinary, I imagine that the first of your family members who you would come out to would be Mitch, who would, in his own repressed way, support you in any way he could.

I don’t know if Claire would necessarily understand, but she’d still be supportive.

When you come out to your parents, they’re both confused, but Dede is immediately accepting and supportive (and Jay always insists that it was just to spite him).

On the other hand, Jay... well, he isn’t cruel or dismissive or anything. 

He just doesn’t get it.

But, you’re his kid- his baby- and he doesn’t want to lose you because he doesn’t understand.

So, he’ll go along with it and try calling you what you wanna be called.

Keep the peace, y’know?

And, he’ll screw up.

At first, part of him will feel like you, or anyone else who corrects him, are being overly pedantic, but he’ll grit his teeth and concede to avoid any conflict.

It’ll take him years and several lectures from Mitchell and Gloria for Jay to realise how important it is for him to try his best to understand you, or at the very least get it right as much as he can.

And, when he does, he’ll make sure to let you know that you have his full support, and he’s sorry that he couldn’t let you feel that sooner.

Gloria has always supported you.

Like your mother, her acceptance of you was immediate, and this time Jay couldn’t claim it was to spite him.

She wants the best for you and your relationship with your dad, so she will try her best to get him to support you rather than just tolerate you because he loves you.

Like Claire and Mitchell, she corrects him when he gets things wrong.

She’ll be happy to take you shopping for gender-affirming clothes.

And, she’ll be happy to listen if you ever need it.

Manny’s a mature and sensitive kid, so I feel like he’d mostly understand your gender when it’s first explained to him.

He’s never afraid to ask questions, though he’ll always do it out of curiosity, not judgement.

Phil, Claire and their kids all respect you.

Claire will always correct your dad when he gets things wrong.

I imagine that Phil is especially supportive and will happily refer to you as his ‘sibling-in-law’.

When Claire told him about your gender, I feel like he probably looked it up and, with a lot of research, grew to understand you as much as a cis guy ever could.

Haley and Luke probably don’t completely get it at first, but they’ll both try their best.

Alex is probably the Dunphy who understands it the most (and she probably thinks that being nonbinary is really kickass).

If anyone in her family needs any clarification on anything (it’s typically her siblings), she’ll be the first to explain things.

I feel like she’s very supportive of and knowledgeable about trans and nonbinary people and the issues they face (just between you and me, I headcanon Alex as queer, so that’s probably why).

Your chief supporters in your family are Mitch and Cam.

Whenever you need to vent about things that the rest of your family just won’t get, they’re always happy to lend a listening ear, especially Cam.

Although Mitchell cares so much about you, he struggles to be as openly loving and kind as Cam.

Cam will probably be the one who urges Mitch to speak to Jay on your behalf about how his behaviour affects you.

If you ever get any gender-affirming medical treatment, they’ll volunteer to go with you to appointments.

They’d also introduce you to their queer friends, if that’s something you want.

It may take some time, but you’ll get to feel like an accepted and supported member of your family in the end, because even if some of them don’t get it, they’ll try their best to make you feel affirmed.

[azurlily]

Hello, how are you? I hope you're alright (:

Is it possible to request an Azula x gn reader with an arranged marriage trope (both reader and Azula are aged up of course)? Both of them have feelings for eachother, but since Azula doesn't want to accept that they were married against her will and reader values morals like honesty and sincerity very much (those morals are of course humiliated by Azula on a daily basis lol) they need a bit of time to really find together.

I hope you like the request, please have a great day (:

Ooooo I like this!! I'm doing well! Better than before! I'd like to point put that this is the last month I'll do a specific reader type(shy reader, trans reader, mean reader, you get the idea).

ANYWAY I LOVE THIS IDEA THIS SOUNDS SO INTERESTING TO ME!! Sorry if I didn't get it exactly right!

"I haven't done anything wrong! If you didn't want that old man to get hurt- oh- and you're crying...sorry?"

Azula doesn't know what too rough means. She also doesn't know what mean means. She assumes you cry because you're sad or angry, not because...of her. Okay, maybe she knows, she just doesn't want to admit it.

Azula sees your sincerity and honesty, she sees it as weakness at first. Slowly it becomes one of the things she loves about you the most. How lying is wrong, and hoe you want people to be happy. She sees it as something to protect. You don't see this type of thing often.

Azulas feelings blossom when you start bringing her things. It's your way of showing your love and interest in her. You bring her things she likes, or things you've been told she likes. There has been an occasion where she lied about liking something and you learned about it. You chided and scolded her for a few days.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm listening. What we're you saying, uh-"

She finds herself falling in love with you. Wanting to watch you more and more often, seeing all the nice things you do. It's a complete contrast for her, and she knows it. That's why she likes it so much. Azula likes knowing something so different is more than willing to be by her side.

She does mention you and your family to her father. Wether you're an important figurehead or not, she wants to see you higher up. Azula wants a reason to be closer to you; her father acknowledging your family. Well- that's just an amazing reason. She does try and help your status, she wants people know you. Know how amazing and beautiful/handsome you are.

When her father and your parents have a meeting. They talk about Azula and your common interest in eachother. They talk and come to an "obvious" conclusion. The two of you should marry. Your family could help influence, and maybe a lifetime partner will help Azula be a bit more interested in in the things her father wants.

(Not like she isn't already)

They finalize everything before either of you know. They have everything signed and agreed upon, then wait some time. The closer the two of you are, the easier this will be.

Anyway this marriage is definitely not one that anyone else would have seen coming. Azula, on the other hand, knew. That's why she's been pulling away recently. She doesn't want to be married to you forcefully, even if you are cute.

Even though Azula has strong feelings about you, it takes a damn while for her to admit it. When the two of you are hidden in the darkness of her room. Her hands holding your own, her face much too close to yours. The warmth of it all, the love and kindness she'd rarely ever show.

It was all ruined when the marriage was announced. At first you were both dumbfounded. How could this have happened? Right under your noses?

Azula, instead of feeling a sort of happiness, being happy that her relationship with you is secure. Instead she's angry, how dare she be forced to marry you. Marry someone so kind, so truthful, so sweet. It felt like she was drowning in her own angry fire.

She goes from watching you talka bout something you were interested in, to glaring when you even mention love. Azula hates how weak your tears make her, she tries to avoid them. Her being a bitch all the time doesn't help.

Azula, during the wedding planning was nothing short of rude. You tries talking to her, giving her idea on how to make things more her style. She refused to listen. Why would she listen when her father wouldn't care in the slightest!?

"Mhm, yeah. Listen [Name], I understand you're sweet and you want this wedding to be about me, but I dont care."

Over time she's gone from being a bitch, to teasing you. While she doesn't like that she was forced into a relationship, she does like you. So it, in a way, evens out.

About three or four months into the marriage shes back to herself. She's back to pulling you into rooms with a cold glare...only to kiss your lips and walk away. She teases you when you see a hurt animal and run to help it.

Secretly though, she adores seeing you. She adores your truths, she adores how you value the real her. She adores every bit of you, especially when you give her a sweet smile and hold her hand. She makes fun and pushes you around(hopefully you know she doesn't always mean to be rude) but in reality, seeing you just makes her day.

Of course there is the darker side of things.

"Stop crying. I'm not apologizing, you know I'm right. So what if I lied!? I haven't hurt you."

That's what she doesn't understand. Why would you feel empathy for others? She could understand her, yourself, family(barely), even friends. She doesn't get why you'd feel back about someone that doesn't matter. These ideals of her strain your relationship. You fight, and she refuses to admit her wrongdoings. Anymore at least.

She needs time to understand she's done something wrong. You need time to calm down and see things from her eyes. She was forced into a relationship, no matter how close you two were. It was still against her will. Taking away her freedom, taking away her ability to choose you as her forever.

The two of your fight a lot, and you're both hurtful sometimes. That doesn't mean either of you loslve the other any less. It just means you don't agree. She takes time to learn you, see what to and not to tease you about. You take time to see what she sees, to see her fears and anger.

Your relationship does mend, it take a year or two, but it mends. And you two come out stronger than ever. I mean, it's not like either of you have the choice to leave the other.

Sorry if you didn't like it. I tried, but I didn't fully understand what you meant. Also sorry it's short. I have a lot of Azula requests and I didn't realise how much yall like her.

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Playing with a Coroner and a Detective is not wise - Skulduggery x Male!Reader Universe

WARNING!: Mention of corpses, cursing, mention of murder, insulting AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Part 4 – China Sorrows

“Samples ?”, Stephanie asked as they followed Skulduggery to his car.

M/n looked at her and sighed.

“Well, please don’t tell Mom...”, M/n begged.

“Don’t tell her what ?”, she asked suspiciously.

“Sis...I am not working as a Marketer. I am a Coroner. I work with corpses.”, M/n admitted.

She stared at him in shock.

“And Mom doesn’t know ?!”, she yelled.

“No, only Uncle G knew, because he paid the schooling for me.”

She had a wide open mouth at that, gaping at her Brother in utter shock. All this time, her Brother worked on corpses and murder cases !

“That’s so cool ! I will not say anything. But expect blackmail.”, she said then.

“Of course you would use it as blackmail...”, M/n sighed with a grin.

Then they arrived at the Detective’s car and M/n gasped, already starting to gush about the model he saw in front of him.

“No way is that a 1954s Bentley R-Type Continental !”, he yelled in excitement.

“It is.”, Skulduggery said with a smile in his voice.

“What is so special about it ?”, Stephanie asked.

M/n turned to her with big eyes of excitement.

“This model was only made to the number of 208 examples ! It has a six cylinder with a 4,5 liter engine too !”, M/n gushed.

“I let a few things be added into it too. I added a Central locking system, air conditioning, navigation system and other modern amenities.”, Skulduggery told M/n.

He was bouncing on his feet, in excitement.

“I will never understand your craze for cars...”, Stephanie muttered.

“Sissy ! I only am crazy for OLD cars ! I LOVE them ! They look cool and not as stupid as the cars nowadays !”, M/n whined at her.

“What is wrong with the cars nowadays ?”

“Everything ! Even the smallest issue, you can’t fix yourself anymore, you need a garage for that and pay a huge amount of cash, for a small thing ! They all look the fucking same and they all don’t have sharp edges anymore ! All the corners of the cars, nowadays, look like someone licked on them until they were round ! Eww !”, M/n complained.

Then he pointed at the Bentley.

“This car was rare and hard to get, thanks to the limited amount of its kind ! And, to make it even better, it was one of the very FEW cars that looked good with round edges ! Also, the engines had more space in old cars. They had longer snouts not as small as nowadays and nothing was all somehow forced inside there. Everything had space.”, M/n added.

(For people who want to know what that car type looked like...)

“Is that why you begged to have that Firebird ?”, she asked.

M/n looked at her offended.

“ ‘That Firebird’ ?”, he scoffed as he repeated her.

“Firebird ?”, Skulduggery asked interested as he unlocked the car.

“I call dips !”, Stephanie yelled and took the passenger seat.

M/n took the back and Skulduggery got inside in the driver’s seat. M/n buckled up and then pouted.

“What Firebird ?”, Skulduggery asked.

“She meant my 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Y82. MY car, that is currently unavailable.”, M/n answered.

“I haven’t seen one in a long while. I might want to see it one day.”

“Sure. I will probably work with you a few times, for information exchange, so you have a high chance to see it one day.”

Then Skulduggery started the engine and they drove off. It didn’t take long and they were on a road, which M/n and Stephanie didn’t know existed. So M/n asked him how he knew.

“I visited Gordon often, so I drove around here a lot and I know every corner here.”, he answered.

“Huh. That explains it...”, M/n said in thought.

As they drove past a sign that told them the direction to Haggard, Stephanie considered to just ask him to get her home, but she refused and shook the thought away quickly. That would mean that she can forget all of this. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity !

“Where are we going ?”, she asked.

“The City. I have a meeting there with an old friend. Maybe she can shed some light on the recent events.”

“Why were you here ?”, she asked.

“Pardon ?”

“Tonight. Not that we aren’t grateful that you were, but why were you near us ?”, she asked.

“Ah, that question had to come.”

“And will you answer it ? I don’t think you just came for M/n’s reports, for whatever reason you had to get these.”

Now that M/n thought about it, he sounded ready to come over anyways. Stephanie was right, there was more to this...

“I rather not answer that.”, Skulduggery said.

“And why ?”, she pressed.

He turned his head slightly into her direction. It looked like he had them both in his sight, with the street included.

“The less you two know about all of this, the better. You two are very normal children and tomorrow you go back to your very normal lives. It wouldn’t be good, if you two get even deeper involved with this.”

“But we already are deeply involved.”, Stephanie argued back.

“But we can limit the involvement.”, Skulduggery countered.

“But I don’t want to.”, she said.

M/n just watched, amused.

“But it is the best for you and your Brother.”

“But I don’t want that !”

“But it could-“

“No more sentences with ‘buts’ !”

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

M/n laughed at that.

“You two argue like long best friends. It is really funny.”, he chuckled out.

“Hah. Hah.”, she replied in sarcasm.

Then she turned back to Skulduggery.

“You can’t seriously expect us, that we forget all of this, just like that. We saw how magic was used, we saw the fire and YOU ! And we have heard about the war, from which no one taught us in school. We saw a world, from which we didn’t even know, existed.”

“Don’t you want to go back to your normal life ? It is less dangerous.”

M/n scoffed.

“Says who, Pleasant ?”, he asked the Skeleton.

“I don’t belong there.”, Stephanie stated.

“Nor do I. I feel so out of place in my ‘normal’ life. I am just very smart and no one else is. I feel like I never even dug deep enough to discover what else I can learn, that interests me. Magic does. It did since I was a small bean with the age of 6 years. Now I know it is out there, so why not LEARN about it ?”, M/n added.

Skulduggery turned his head completely to her and crooked his head to his side.

“Curious. Your Uncle said the exact same thing as I met him the very first time. Even more curious is that Gordon did tell me, that you, M/n, will want to join the world of mages as soon as you know it exists.”

Then Stephanie asked him if the things, Gordon wrote about, were true about the world of mages, at which M/n only laughed.

“I don’t think he did ! A lot of mages would have came after him, if that were the case. No, no, no. But he told me a few things about the world of mages, I think. I was never allowed to talk to anyone about it and I had to make a pinky promise. Never talked about it.”, M/n said proudly.

“You are probably right...”, she muttered.

“He got inspired by them, but he changed everything so much, so he didn’t embarrass anyone and he didn’t get hunted down or even killed for it. Your Uncle was a very great man, really. We solved many cases together.”, Skulduggery said.

“Really ?”, M/n and Stephanie asked.

M/n was in awe and excitement.

“Oh yes, you can be proud, to have had an Uncle as him. Of course I was involved in many fights, because he dragged me somewhere and just wouldn’t stop to get on other people’s nerves, but...we had fun. A lot of fun.”

M/n smiled saddened at that. He wished he knew.

The drive was very quiet after that, until the lights of the City appeared in front of them. The City was quiet and the streets almost empty. They drove onto a small parking lot, Skulduggery turned off his engine and looked at Stephanie and M/n.

“You two stay here.”, he instructed.

“Okay.”, the two replied.

Skulduggery got out of the car and not even two seconds later did the siblings also get out of the car. They didn’t tag along just to stay in the car. They wanted to see what else the world had to offer for surprises.

“Stephanie, M/n, I’m having doubts, that you respect my authority.”, the Detective said.

“Well, we don’t.”, Stephanie answered.

“You have to earn my respect, like anyone else. And that takes a while.”, M/n replied.

“Oh...well then.”

He put his hat back on and wrapped his scarf around his chin, the wig and sunglasses, he left out though. He pressed on the remote on his keychain, it beeped and the car doors locked themselves.

“That’s all ?”, she asked.

“Steph, not everything can be magical. That would be obvious.”, M/n said softly.

“What your Brother just said.”, Skulduggery agreed and then started to walk away.

They hurried to keep up with him.

“But you do magic from time to time, right ?”, she asked.

“Sometimes. Although, I am trying recently, not to depend on Magic all that much, I’m trying to deal with most of the issues, with what is in there.”, he answered and tapped his skull.

“There is empty space.”

M/n started to laugh at that.

“Yes, but you know what I mean.”, he replied a bit agitated.

“What else can you do ?”, she asked.

“Pardon ?”, the Detective replied.

M/n calmed down with his laughter and looked at them. He liked to be in the background. That way he was rarely noticed and he liked it that way. After all...he had bad memories of the few times he was in the spot light...

Mostly he got bullied, for being smarter, than anyone else in his school and for finishing his scholar ship and for starting work so early and all that. Whenever he was in the spot light, he was mocked, insulted, pushed around and bullied. He liked staying in the back and not draw too much attention to himself.

“Something, that has to do with Magic. Show me something.”, Stephanie said interested.

“What – a living Skeleton isn’t enough for you ? You want more ?”, he asked.

If Skulduggery would have had eyebrows, M/n bet, he would have raised them.

“Yes. Teach me something.”

He shrugged with his shoulders and looked at M/n.

“You too, M/n ?”

The boy was surprised that he was asked and involved too. He wasn’t used to people paying much attention to him. He nodded with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

“Alright then...I don’t mind. I think it won’t hurt to do that. Two different kinds of Magic exist. The Alchemists do sorcery in one way, the Elemental mages do it differently. The Alchemists are more aggressive, their techniques show faster effects. The Elemental mages in comparison, I am one of them, chose the less spectacular way and make an effort, to control the Elements better.”

“To rule over the Elements ?”, Stephanie asked.

“That is a little bit exaggerated. We don’t rule over them, we manipulate them. We influence them.”

“You mean Earth, Wind-“

“Water and Fire. Exactly.”

“Show me, how.”

Skulduggery crooked his head a bit to his right side and the siblings could hear, that he had fun with this, as he “Fine then” said and he held his open hand out, towards her. She frowned, wondered, why she suddenly was freezing, and only then realized, that a drop of water ran over her face.

She looked to M/n and he was just as much, having small drops of water on himself, but he didn’t seem to freeze.

In the next second were, both of their hair, completely soaking wet, as if they just came out of the water with their head after a dive in it.

“How did you do that ?”, she asked as she shook her head and water drops flew in all directions.

“Hey !”, M/n protested loudly as he got most of them in his face.

He glared at his Sister.

“Biatch, I am standing right BEHIND you ! Stop spraying me even more wet than I already am ! I don’t want water from your greasy hair in my face !”, he yelled childishly.

“To your info, I showered yesterday ! When did you shower, huh ?!”

“Yesterday ! A whole damn stinky, rotting corpse fell on top of me, so I HAD to shower quickly ! It REEKED and had MAGGOTS, YUCK !”

At that Stephanie felt sick and gagged.

“Ewww !”

“Thank you ! Your sympathy is greatly appreciated !”, M/n said with a grin, knowing she didn’t feel bad for him.

Skulduggery chuckled at their playful banters.

“Anyways...I’m gonna guess how he did it. He manipulated the humidity. Which means he did Water.”, M/n said with a smart, know it all, grin.

He looked at M/n.

“Very good. That is correct.”, he praised, impressed.

“The first Element was water. We can’t split the Red Sea or something like that, but we have a little bit of influence about it.”

“Show me that with the fire again.”, Stephanie said.

“I am wet...Couldn’t have anyone told me that I am getting a shower for free ? I would have brought soap, towels and new clothes for that.”, M/n whined playfully.

Skulduggery chuckled. He snapped his gloved hands and sparks flew, he formed a fist and the sparks became a flame and he held the fireball in his hand, while they continued to walk.

The fire burned brighter and she felt, how her hair slowly dried.

“M/n, come over here, I’m drying you off.”, Skulduggery said.

M/n went next to his Sister and sighed as he started to feel himself getting dry.

“Wow.”, Stephanie said.

“Exactly. Wow.”, Skulduggery replied.

“Awesome. Thank you.”, M/n said, relieved.

“Were you cold ?”, she asked.

“Steph...I am a fucking AC no matter the temperature. I don’t sweat in summer and I don’t warm up in the winter, yet barely feel the cold. I wasn’t cold, I was just uncomfortable with my hair sticking to my head, face and neck. It is a disgusting feeling.”

“Ah- I forgot...”, she muttered.

“No shit, Sherlock...”

Skulduggery shook his head in amusement. They like to talk to each other in sarcasm and to roast each other. Gordon really knew them very well.

He threw the fireball into the air, with one quick hand movement and the siblings watched as it started to burn out in the night, until there was nothing to see anymore.

“Nice firework. The boom was missing though.”, M/n said jokingly.

Skulduggery laughed.

“Why thank you, but unfortunately I don’t want to draw attention to us.”, he replied to M/n.

“I had a feeling that was it.”

“What about earth ?”, Stephanie asked.

Skulduggery shook his head.

“You don’t want to see that and hopefully you never will have to see that. The earth power is a pure defensive story and is only allowed to be used at extreme emergencies.”

M/n was confused and concerned at that statement. Was it that big of a deal ?

“So...no stomping with your foot and making an earth quake, to destabilize your enemy ? That doesn’t exist in earth magic ?”, M/n asked.

“No it doesn’t.”, Skulduggery answered.

“Oh man... Earth is supposed to be cool and then you hear that it is the most useless power...”, M/n said saddened.

“It’s not useless-“

“You are not allowed to use it, besides it is an emergency case. Of course it is the most useless then.”, M/n interrupted the Detective with a pout.

Skulduggery was silent at that. He had to agree with M/n at that one. It DID sound the most useless ability. You have it at your disposal, but because of what it can only do, it is forbidden to be used.

“What is the strongest Element ? The fire ?”, Stephanie asked after a while.

“That is the most noticeable, that gets all the ‘Wows’, but you would be surprised what a bit of air can do, if you displace it correctly. Displaced air doesn’t easily disappear, there must be a place, where you can push it to.”

“Can we see it, once ?”

They reached the end of the parking lot and walked past a low wall, which surrounded it. Skulduggery pressed his fingertips on the ball of his hand, spread then his fingers and did a fast movement from his wrist in the wall’s direction. The air shook and the bricks flew onto the sidewalk. Stephanie and M/n stared at the brand new hole in the wall.

“I knew it ! Air is the best Element you can have !”, M/n cheered.

“Man, is that cool.”, Stephanie said in amazement.

As they continued to walk, she turned back around a few times to look at the wall again.

“What about the Alchemists ? What can they do ? Are these those people you watch in Ninjago ? One can do shape shifting, the other copy magical abilities and the other can use nature to his own needs ?”, M/n asked in excitement.

Skulduggery looked at M/n as he asked that.

“Ninjago ?”

“Lego Ninjago is still my favorite Series. I watched all seasons and they also have Magic, but they call it Elemental Powers. And they are all called there Elemental Masters.”, M/n shortly explained.

“Huh. Never heard of it before.”

“It is a great Series. Steph watched it with me a lot too. I guess I am a person that will never grow too old for children series and Movies. I hate news and other stuff. All I like is Comedy, children stuff and some murder series, like Navy CIS, Bones, Castle and Death in Paradise. News are boring and my Mom keeps me updated anyways. The reporters just babble too much in my opinion.”

“That is a lot.”

“Meh, Uncle said it was way too little stuff that I liked. Now, are Alchemists like that ?”, M/n asked.

“Kind of. I met a shape shifter and someone who could read your mind.”

“So cool ! I have decided, I wanna stay here ! This is EXACTLY my world ! I always wanted to be around Magic and work with it !”

‘Oh dear, what have I done ? Gordon you would kill me...’, Skulduggery thought.

Stephanie looked at her Brother and then had a grin on her face.

“Which one is more powerful ? An Alchemist or an Elemental mage ?”, she asked Skulduggery.

M/n scoffed.

“I bet it is Elemental. I mean come on ! They have FOUR different Elements they can use, while Alchemists just have ONE, as it sounds.”

“Actually, it depends on the mage all alone. An Alchemist can have so many tricks up his sleeve, so many different abilities, that he can be stronger in the end than the strongest Elemental mage. That has been proven.”

M/n stared at Skulduggery with a wide open mouth.

“B-but, Elementals have FOUR Elements to control ! FOUR ! How is an Alchemist with just ONE power, better than YOU ?!”

“They concentrate more on their one power and are more aggressive with it than Elementals are. It gives them a slight advantage.”

“Was the sorcerer Mevolent ? The strong Alchemist ?”

“No, Mevolent was an Elemental. It is rather rare, that an Elemental is choosing such deviations, but it happens.”

“How do you know, if you can do sorcery ? Can anyone learn it ?”, Stephanie asked.

M/n knew that she wanted to know it badly, but played it off as if that thought just crossed her mind.

“Not anyone. In fact just very few can learn sorcery.”, Skulduggery answered.

“They usually then gather at one location, so that there are, over the whole world, little groups, of sorcerers. In England and Ireland, as example, exist eighteen districts, in which only sorcerers live.”

“Can you also be a sorcerer, without knowing it ?”

M/n was concerned at that question. Skulduggery told them that it is most definitely possible. And Stephanie was saying it was sad, while he found it amusing. M/n scoffed.

“Sure it is very funny, to know that there are more mages out there, most possibly, and they never knew that they could have helped two worlds, mostly when it is people that just KNOW that they don’t belong and most likely decide to do suicide because of it, because they FEEL that something is missing, but never could find out WHAT was missing. Very funny. To die for.”, he told Skulduggery with a slightly agitated tone.

“Alright, when you put it THAT way, it isn’t that funny anymore.”, Skulduggery said softly.

“Because it isn’t ! Parents lose their own children out there and who knows why ! Many do it because they KNOW something is missing in their life ! What if it was a mage, that never knew, because no one could help them ?! Not every child that killed themselves did it from depression ! Seriously, and mages find it FUNNY ?!”, M/n raged.

“Brother, calm down.”, Stephanie said calmly.

M/n took deep, calming breaths.

“I am calm. But it is WRONG to find it funny, that people take their lives and die, never knowing that they could have changed the world. That they were maybe missing the world of mages. Who knows ? Maybe mages, that don’t know that they are mages, feel a certain emptiness and that means that their world is calling for them. They just can’t pick up on it.”

“I never thought about it in that way.”, Skulduggery admitted.

“Hah. Maybe you should.”

Soon enough they entered a story building and climbed stairs up. They followed Skulduggery until they stopped at a door that read ‘Library’. He knocked on that door and then waited.

“By the way: Even if you want to do it badly, don’t tell her, under any circumstances, your names.”, Skulduggery warned.

They nodded in understanding and then the door opened. They were let in by a man that seemed to be a bodyguard. They went inside and followed behind Skulduggery, who followed the man, for a while, until they spotted a female. The woman had raven black hair and water blue eyes. Then the woman smiled and Stephanie started to feel warm and welcomed, while M/n looked very uncomfortable.

Stephanie wanted nothing more but to be next to this woman, while M/n wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

“Leave it be.”, Skulduggery warned.

The woman looked at him and her smile became mocking. Stephanie stared at her delighted.

“Leave it be.”, Skulduggery repeated, firmer this time.

The woman laughed and shrugged her shoulders, but before she could say anything M/n smacked the back of his little Sister’s head, which she hissed softly at.

“First off: Hell no, little Sis. Second off: She is way too old for you. Third off: You are too young for a relationship. And fourth off: I don’t like her.”, he whispered to her.

“You didn’t fall for it ?”, Skulduggery asked M/n in surprise.

“No. Whatever it was, I didn’t get influenced. And thank fuck for that. She made me VERY uncomfortable though. I do NOT like her. Whatever she tried on me and succeeded to do to my Sister, she better shoves it up her ass for the next time, otherwise I will do something drastic about it.”, M/n said and growled at the woman.

The woman stared at him in shock. M/n put a protective arm around his little Sister, death glaring the woman.

“I’m sorry. I tend to forget, what influence, I have on humans. The first glimpse and all...”, the woman said with a slight bow.

“It seems to me, that you forget that every time, when you meet someone knew.”, Skulduggery accused.

“What can I say ? I am muddle – headed.”

Skulduggery turned to Stephanie.

“Don’t be embarrassed. Everyone, that meets China for the first time, fall for her. But believe me, the effect will wear off, the more you get to know her.”

“It will get weaker, but never fully stop. Right, Skulduggery ?”, the woman, China, asked.

M/n didn’t like what this China was referring to. He didn’t even like her, this close, to them. The Detective took off his hat, but didn’t answer her question.

“If you tell me, that you fucked this woman at some point, I will gag and vomit into your Bentley, Skulduggery. She ain’t even that pretty. She is more creepy than anything.”, M/n whispered to him, so the woman doesn’t hear him.

Skulduggery looked at him. M/n wasn’t sure, but he guessed that he was surprised.

China smiled at Stephanie, which M/n already hated, and she gave her an eggshell colored business card, on which stood a telephone number in elegant handwriting.

“Call me, if you stumble over any books or something, from which you believe, could interest me. In the past Skulduggery did that too. Nowadays not anymore. I fear, too much water has flown down, the proverbial creek. But where are my manners ? I’m China Sorrows, my Dears. Just call me China. And you two are ?”

Before Stephanie could answer, M/n stepped in.

“Her name is ‘non of ya business’, Toots. My name is ‘Joe Mama’. Now step away from me and my Sister. Ever heard about personal space and the five foot distance rule, Miss manners ?”, M/n growled out protectively.

China looked at M/n in shock and then stepped away from them. Five feet, while Skulduggery chuckled at M/n’s attitude. He really hated China.

“He is very overprotective. I rather not provoke him, China.”, Skulduggery said amused.

“I have realized.”, she muttered.

“You look almost, like that one Bitch that tried to sexually assault me, three times, in school. Be glad I just want you five feet away and not in the trash can.”, M/n growled out darkly.

“You were almost assaulted, three times ?”, Skulduggery asked.

“The whore wanted badly into my pants. She even wanted to force my family, to make me marry her, with 10 years of age. I was almost out of school too. Uncle said he took care of her. No idea what happened to her, but she just disappeared after that, luckily. That hoe was at least 7 years older than me too.”

Stephanie looked at her Brother in horror.

“Why didn’t you tell me that ?!”, she yelled.

“Because you were too young to understand. You were only six years old, Sis. You didn’t have to know.”

“What a bad woman...”, China scoffed.

M/n glared at her.

“You were no different near my Sister right now. Just keep your distance.”

Skulduggery sighed and then snapped China’s attention back on him.

“They are witnesses of how someone broke into Gordon Edgley’s estate. The intruder searched for something. What could Gordon have had, that someone wanted badly ?”

“You don’t know who it was ?”, China asked the Skeleton.

“Who the man was, is not important to me. I’m only interested to find out, who his Master is.”

“And who, do you think it is ?”

The Skeleton was silent and China laughed.

“Again Serpine ? Darling, to you, Serpine is practically responsible for every Crime.”

“Because it is exactly that.”

“Then why are you coming to me ?”

“You hear a lot.”

“Really ?”

Skulduggery asked her if China heard anything at all, and she replied that it wouldn’t be anything helpful, just some Bullshit she heard. After he pressed at that matter, she told him that she heard that Serpine was doing research about some Sceptre of the Ancients and that he was actively looking for it, apparently. He said it was just a fairytale, which already made M/n think that he might be wrong.

Then they were talking about what Gordon could have had, that someone wanted to steal. China said that, that is probably not the right question, he should find an answer to and he seemed to understand exactly what she meant. In M/n’s head it clicked, meanwhile Stephanie asked what that meant, on which Skulduggery just said that it isn’t important what they wanted to steal, but what they wanted to have, that Gordon had to die for it first.

China explained then, that there are objects, which, can only be used and taken away from the previous owner, when they are dead.

“So like in Harry Potter and the deathly hallows ? Where Voldemort had a wand that he thought belonged to him only, but that wasn’t the case, the previous owner still was alive and with that its loyalty didn’t belong to him. There was the big rumor that the previous owner had to die for the wand to switch owners, but that was wrong, they just had to deweaponized them, which Voldemort didn’t know, and then he killed the person, he thought killed the previous owner. But it wasn’t Snape who owned the wand’s loyalty, it was Draco Malfoy and after he was deweaponized by Harry Potter, it belonged to Harry. Snape killed Dumbledore, who had the wand first, but Malfoy deweaponized Dumbledore, so he was the next owner. Does this make sense ? In order to get some objects, you have to either kill someone, wait for them to die or even deweaponize them, before you can own it and the loyalty of the said object ?”, M/n asked.

All three of them stared at him.

“What ?”, M/n asked.

“You understood all of this, just from a Movie ?”, China asked.

“Yeah ? I am smart, after all. I was a Potter Fan for a while, until it died out. Can’t stand the Movies anymore.”

“Impressive. But yes, that is how this works.”, Skulduggery said.

“Well, fuck me then. This doesn’t sound like it’s gonna be an easy case.”, M/n said and slumped his shoulders.

Skulduggery turned back to China and asked her to inform him if she knows anything or heard anything that might help. In which she asked what she’d get in return.

“If this all involves my Uncle, and you decide to not say anything, and I will find out about it, I might beat your sorry ass, woman. I might look like a weakling, but I can whoop ass. I will NOT hesitate. I beat a mage tonight already, I am not afraid to do it again. You get in return, a free evening and no ass whooping, how about that ?”, M/n snarled.

She looked at M/n and then at Skulduggery.

“He did that ?”

“Yeah, he was ready to kill.”

“He woke up and chose violence today.”, Stephanie replied.

They all looked at her and M/n scoffed then mumbled stuff under his breath.

After that they left, Stephanie switched and this time she sat in the back and he in the passenger seat, M/n looked at his watch, then choked on his breath.

“SHIT !”, he yelled.

“What is it ?!”, Stephanie yelled in the car, while Skulduggery stayed calm.

“I have to get my car soon ! I can’t come home too ! I will miss the agreed upon timing to get my car and pay for the repairs ! They are always so busy and full ! It will take me hours to get my car, if I come later !”, M/n complained, stressed.

“I can just drive you there.”, Skulduggery offered.

“You’d do that ?”

“Of course.”

“Great ! Thank you !”

“No problem.”

M/n told Skulduggery the address and he drove them there. As they drove, Stephanie asked more questions about Serpine and other things, M/n only listened partly to the conversation. He had a bad feeling.

“Guys ?”, he said softly.

They went silent.

“Yes, M/n ?”, Skulduggery asked.

“I have a VERY bad gut feeling.”

“Why ?”, Stephanie asked.

M/n looked around in the car and waited for something to appear. Then it happened.

“WATCH OUT !”, M/n screamed as he saw the car, without headlights, driving straight at them.

He took the wheel from Skulduggery and forced himself on top of the Skeleton and hit the gas, quickly shifting gears, to avoid getting hit. The headlights were turned on, suddenly, but M/n couldn’t care less if he was blinded, it was a straight road and the fucker came from Skulduggery’s side.

He was quickly in the fourth gear and was out of the way as the car drove down the road and into the mud. M/n’s adrenaline was way too high for him to register, that they weren’t chased anymore. So he continued to drive fast for a while, until he was calm enough to look into the mirrors and see no one following. He halted the car and then carefully went back into his own seat.

He was still pale, but he was calming down. Then he felt sick and slammed open the door of the Bentley, ran a bit away and started to vomit. Skulduggery and Stephanie got out as well. She was worried for her Brother, while Skulduggery was impressed with his reflexes.

“M/n, are you alright ?”, she asked her older Brother.

“Never been-“, he vomited again, “...better....”, he finished bemused.

“Who was that Freak ?”, she asked.

“The same guy, that intruded our house.”, M/n answered softly as he wiped his mouth clean with a tissue.

He looked at his Sister and then he froze.

“This isn’t over yet...”, he muttered in panic.

“What do you mean ? Your gut ?”, Stephanie asked worried.

M/n nodded.

“I feel watched too...”

Then there was a yell and it was the man again, with a few scars. M/n dodged him and punched him in the jaw.

“CAR ! NOW, SIS !”, M/n yelled.

She refused to do so. She tried to find out what she could do to help. Then she looked at Skulduggery.

“He seems to be immune to fire, could that mean he is specifically trained on that element alone ?”

“Yes, why ?”

“Water puts out fire. What if...”

“Water hurts him ?”, Skulduggery asked.

She nodded.

“Worth a try.”, Skulduggery said, shrugging his shoulders.

M/n landed a mean kick against the man’s shin, who screamed in pain at that.

“Just leave us the fuck alone you fucking creep ! Go back to your Master and live out your Master/Slave kink there, won’t you ?! Fucking curl up in a corner and die already !”, M/n screamed in frustration.

“Your Brother has a mouth...”

“No one ever could make him stop from cursing when he was pissed off or protective.”, she replied to Skulduggery.

Skulduggery then manipulated the humidity and water rained onto the attacker and M/n. The man started to scream in pain and, as the water became more and more, the man started to fall into pieces, right in front of M/n. He jumped back and just watched as he died, just like that.

After he was dead and only remains were left, M/n puked again.

“M/n ?!”

“Anxiety kicked in ! I’m fine !”, he replied to his Sister.

Skulduggery turned to Stephanie.

“Good thinking there.”, he praised her.

“Yeah, great thinking, Sis...”

After that, they got back into the car and Skulduggery arrived at the car dealer, whose garage was working on M/n’s car. He got out and said his bye to Skulduggery and Stephanie.

“I will visit a friend later, if you want, you and your sister can tag along.”, Skulduggery offered.

“Are you sure ? As we drove, you were very hell bent, to leave it at a onetime only thing.”, M/n asked.

“I have a feeling you two have a very good feeling, in this kind of work.”, Skulduggery answered.

“Well then, sure !”, M/n replied.

“I will join too !”, Stephanie replied as she took back the passenger seat.

“Alright then. Until later, M/n.”

“Until later, Skulduggery, Steph.”

Then they drove off and M/n waited for the garage and car dealer to open up, which was any minute now.

‘Just pay for the car, take it and drive home, then work on stuff until Skulduggery comes and picks you up.’

Masterlist HERE !

[nescaveckwriter]

Paintbrushes & Romance - Part 19

"Look what you did," Dean hissed.

Benny smirks," not what I did Dean, its what you said." Dean glares at him, like he is thinking about killing him.

"Like I am going to take advice from you, what you've known her a few months! I've known her for years."

"No Dean, I've known her for a year and a half to be precise, I was there when she Overdosed, when she went through withdrawal, when she barely spoke, or ate, I was there!, not you," his voice getting angrier with every word.

Shock on Dean's face," what do you mean she overdosed? She never told me that, she just said she had a problem with pain meds."

"I'm not surprised", he said low, "when she was going through the withdrawal she, would call your name over and over, then when she got better, she'd sketch and paint, an image of you over and over. She truly adored you, so to answer your previous question, yes I knew who the hell you were, when you showed up at the diner with Jodie, to do the drug bust."

Dean's nostrils flare," and why didn't you say anything, or better yet, why did you take the bullet that was meant for me.?"

"Don't you get it Dean?, I took the damn bullet for you, so that she wont loose you, it will shatter her very being. That beautiful woman, loves you, she chose you, she didn't choose me, I wish she did, but she didn't. I knew from the start, her heart belonged to you, I just had the pleasure of caring about her for a while, and yes, I did love her, hell! I still love her, but I know she'll always choose you, why I don't know because you are a selfish jerk, you know that."

Dean flinches at his words, not because he was angry, but merely because, he realized Benny was right. He didn't deserve her, and he'll be damned if he ever forgot that, and to be honest he didn't get angry at what they had, hell he's done worse, but knowing Benny is so different from who he is, Benny isn't so angry at world, like he can be sometimes, and in his heart he knows that Benny is a good man, hell just by standing here, taking the punch and not throwing one back he's proven he is the better man.

Benny's deep voice brings him out of the trans he was just in.'' Look man, if you need to punch me again, I'll stand here, I will take it, and I won't fight back, but you have to promise me one thing!''

Dean's face puzzled when he asked,'' what is that?''

''Promise me, you'll take care of her, protect her, but never control her, because if I ever find out you took your anger out on her, there will be no place for you to run or hide, I will find you, and I promise I will kill you'', his eyes grey, and his voice deep and low.

Dean, smirks a little,'' first of all, I will never hurt her and secondly I should beat the crap out of you for threating me right now, but I won't, because I can see you care about her deeply, even though it bothers me, that she has loved anyone else other than me, I'm glad she has you, and I know that, if anything ever happens to me, you will be there to help her through it.''

Not expecting the sudden change of heart, he only utters, ''deal.''

___________________

She drove back into town, wanting to get away from the fighting, arguing and what the hell ever was about to happen. It was probably so idiotic of her to leave the two men, back home, but they need to sort this shit out, and she's not going to be in the middle of all of this. ''I'm too freaking exhausted for this'', she whispers.

Finding a parking spot, she shuts down the chevy's engine, texting Eileen if she is also at the Doctor's office. She's been not feeling herself for a few weeks, and decided to visit Dr Stone on Monday, and he called this morning, saying she should pay him a visit, she told her best friend and well she insisted to be here, and frankly she was happy she offered, Eileen waved her down from a few parking's over, fast walking towards her, Eileen looked at her, concern on her face, ''what's wrong honey she signed''.

Telling her everything that just went down, Eileen insisted she will let Sam take a look if the two men is still alive.'' Dammit Eileen, how is that Dean doesn't know that I would choose him a million times over. Yes stuff did happen between me and Benny, I still deeply care about him, But I love Dean, why I don't even know, if he acts like this he makes me so furious''.

Eileen gives her assuring smile,'' we'll figure it out, okay, but first let's go in, and see what is so important that he had to tell you in person,'' holding your shaking hand.

Biting your bottom lip, you just nod and walks in, thinking that everything was going so well, you were happy and know? what disaster is about to threaten your lives now.

''Hello, please take a seat, I've called you in here today, so that we can discuss your test results'', saying with a small smile.

''Give it to me doctor Stone''. you heard him saying ''after all the tests they've done, one test came back positive'', but by then your heart sank, thinking the worst. Not really catching what he said. Looking over at Eileen, signing to you,'' its going to be okay'', you only heard Doctor Stone, saying ''my assistant will book a follow up appointment''.

Trembling, Eileen helps you up, helping you out of the Doctor's office, sitting you down in the closest chair she can find, cupping your face, so she can get your attention,'' its going to be okay''. Helping you breathe, letting you know what the doctor, really said, you look at her wide eyed, signing to her, ''if she is sure'', Eileen just nods.

Getting up on your feet, walking in by doctor Stone confirming what Eileen just told you, you walk out, feeling a bit better. Hugging your best friend, thanking her for the support. Eileen asked you if you wanted to grab a drink, sit down and chat, but you just said ''rain check''.

After this emotional day you had, you are bone tired, the only thing you want to do, is curl up in bed and sleep. Even if it means if you had to chase Dean and Benny out of the house. Pulling into the driveway, you spot Sam's pick-up truck.

Filling your lungs with some extra air you breathed in, chewing on your bottom lip, not sure what to expect, you open the door. The sight of the three men sitting laughing, each with a beer in hand, makes you burst out in tears.

Dean's the first one to see you standing there,'' hello sweetheart'', he walks closer, slightly adjusting you so that the two of you stand on the porch, placing his hand on your cheek, thumbing away your tears, is gruff voice low,'' I've been a jerk, I am so sorry for saying your mine, like your an object, your not, thank you for choosing me, I've come to realize that it was my own insecurities that came to surface, when lashing out towards Benny. I'm not really angry at you''.

Tears still spilling over the edges of her beautiful eyes, her voice brittle,'' really?''

The soft kiss Dean places on her lips, reassures her.

Looking up into his much calmer emerald eyes, ''Dean there's something you need to know'', her voice shaky.

Dean looks concerned, ''out with it sweetheart'', holding her hands in his.

''The last few days, I haven't been feeling myself, so I made an appointment on Monday to see Doctor Stone, and he called me back today, and that's where I was. I got the results of the tests his done''.

A smile tugging at her lips, her voice sweet like honey, ''Dean Winchester, how do you feel about changing your name too Daddy?''

''What? Do you mean,'' his voice heavy.

''Yes babe, we are going to be parents'', her smile spreading across her face.

''I'm going to be a father?'' his eyes showing the emotion. He picks her up, swirling her around, then placing her down gently. Her laughter fills his ears,'' I'm going to be a dad, sweetheart!'' he exclaimed. This is the best news ever. He kisses her, holding her tightly to his chest, he has always dreamed of this day, settling down with the woman he loves and wants to grow old with, kids running around playing, working on there last nerve. How is it that this amazing, angel has giving him, more than he could ever deserve.?

[ellewritesandrants]

What do you think about mtf billy?? I'm obsessed with it، really It's sooooo perfect for me☠️.

I generally see Billy as more genderfluid and non-binary but to be honest, it could go either way if Billy was trans.

The hypermasculinity Billy portrays could come off as maybe masking if they were ftm and it could also be their forced state of being if they were mtf and trying to be the man Neil wanted to mold them into. I usually lean to gender neutrality when I write unless I want to experiment with the effect that a change of gender would have but maybe I should take this as a sign to explore that area more?

Anyway, you can probably guess I like all of these options but mtf Billy really does fit what little we know about him. It would also be really fun to have mtf Billy and ftm Max as a dynamic brother and sister duo because I think it would honestly be so fun to explore that and to see how his partner/s would react to his transition. Or to even just explore how that would work, especially since they’d have to both be out of Hawkins and/or away from Neil for it to work.

I would imagine it to be something more like this.

In a more modern world, Little Billy grew up wanting to be like his mother, the beautiful, soft-spoken and kind woman that she was. He was always trailing behind her, watching her put on her makeup and wearing her jewelry and for some reason, some part of him desperately wanted to do it too.

So, she would indulge him whenever Neil was out on work trips, making her little sunshine even more beautiful that he already was and allowing him to make believe in her dresses.

One night, Neil came home from work early to find the son he’d always wanted, dressed in his wife’s clothes and wearing makeup. Not even his son’s pleads stopped him from beating his wife into the ground before he beat his son just as bad, before dragging him into the car and taking him far away.

Billy never saw his mom again and he never dared pick up anything remotely girly in fear of being beaten like his mom had been.

Billy was still regularly beaten but as long as he was the boy his dad wanted him to be all while doing all of the girly things like cooking and laundry, it never got to the point of broken bones. But then, everything changed when his father met Susan.

All of a sudden, Billy was relegated to being an older brother instead of having to keep the house and he had no idea how to do that without being beaten by Neil for being too girly if he joined Max in her shit.

So, he got Max into skateboarding and arcade games and he was still beaten for treating Susan’s precious little girl like a boy, possibly even turning her into a dyke since normal little girls didn’t like those kinds of things.

Eventually, Neil grew to tolerate how tough Max was compared to other girls, but even that didn’t spare Billy from his father’s wrath. No matter what Billy did he was still beaten. He was still wrong. He would never be accepted and he realized it.

Billy rebelled for once, not too badly that his father would actually kill him but he dared to get his ears pierced along with Maxine’s when he was told to get hers done. Neil had beaten him black and blue but that hadn’t stopped him from actually smiling at his reflection in the mirror for once when he had his mom’s dangly earrings on.

It all came to a head when Max was suspended for fighting, something proper little girls didn’t do so she must’ve learned it from her older brother who cared more about reading and his grades like a pansy instead of how much he could lift.

Neil was sick of his kids not listening to him so he uprooted them both, telling Billy in no uncertain terms that there would be no more of that bullshit choir and nerd club type of shit and that he would get on the basketball team and be a real man here.

Max had begged Billy to play along, just like she would because she was sick and tired of seeing him being hurt and not being able to do a thing about it.

Ever since they met, there was a silent kinship and understanding between them that they weren’t like other people and Billy did everything he could to let Max be Max instead of who his dad wanted Maxine to be.

If Billy wasn’t allowed to be who he was, he would at least try to let Max be who she really wanted to be even if it got him beat.

So, Billy put on this character of the big bad bastard from California who was all chainsmoking, lifting weights, drinking and flirting even if Billy hated every second of it. The only thing that made it worth it was being able to show off his skin and making it so that Neil wasn’t able to leave any visible marks anymore. Billy forced himself to beat the keg record, very well versed in being held upside down and in being forced to drink.

Neil had been the first to thrust a drink into Billy’s hand even if he was underage to prove he was a real man on his first birthday after Neil forced him to leave his mom behind. His birthday gift then was a bottle of beer, to be chugged like a man and not sipped on like a pansy.

Billy quickly learned how to down alcohol like a champ and to build up his tolerance because God only knew what his father would do to him if he was a lightweight.

With Billy playing along to the son Neil always wanted, Max was given a little bit more leeway. Billy had secretly maintained his grades, avoided the D&D Club he desperately wanted to join and he challenged the fallen King Steve to hide the fact that he was starting to feel like he didn’t want to be a guy anymore. If being a guy meant all of this bullshit, he wanted out but that wasn’t an option under Neil’s roof.

So, Billy developed the basketball skills he didn’t like to have, much preferring his yoga and surfing to the trash talking and extremely physical sports that his dad favored. Billy learned to drink hard and party harder while always making sure he was still in control of his body.

He flirted with girls even if he didn’t necessarily want to be with them but more of wanted to be like them. He hid, and he hid and he pretended to be someone he wasn’t all up until he got tired and when he got tired, he slipped up.

Of course, it would be on one of the rare times he actually liked the way he looked in the mirror, ready to head out to meet his friend, Heather for dinner only to be met with his dad’s angry glare and the question of where Max was.

Max had been so good at keeping out of trouble but even she had to slip up and Billy would once again have to pay for it.

One anxiety and cringe-inducing interaction with a woman old enough to be his mother, he got a solid lead as to where the little shitbird was hiding.

It was honestly a big surprise to see his teammate, former King of Hawkins High, Steve Harrington outside but Billy didn’t pay him any mind. He was here to get Max and get home so his punishment wouldn’t get any worse than it already would be.

Even just walking up, he could see Max’s eyes widening at the forming bruise on his cheek before Max ran to what he assumed was the door. Of course, Steve had to stop Billy but Billy didn’t have any time for this.

As soon as he opened the door, Max came barreling into his arms, apologizing for not thinking about the consequences of her actions much to the absolute surprise of the kids she was with.

As soon as Max was composed, they barraged her with questions, asking her what the hell was going on and why the fuck she was leaving in the middle of all of this. Billy didn’t understand what the hell was going on but his heart was warmed when Max said that she had to go because Billy needed her more than they need her.

Of course, Billy didn’t know he was in for the surprise of his life when one of the kids opened the refrigerator door and out fell an alien creature straight out of the sci-fi books Billy lived to read.

The kids called it demodogs, prompting Billy to ask if that was a D&D reference which led to some questioning about what he knew about D&D.

The kids basically explained what their whole town had been going through using D&D terms, confusing Max and helping Billy understand what the fuck was going on.

Since Billy had secretly always wanted to be the hero in a sci-fi book, he convinced Max that they should stay and help out since he’d be punished anyway and it might as well be for saving the world.

The sibling duo ended up helping the rest of the Party with the demodogs and with torching the tunnels, forever changing Billy’s image with the teens and for Steve Hargrove.

They were all witness to how caring Billy was with Max and how overprotective he really was, forcing all of them to wear their seatbelts before he drove off.

He even took up the back and he helped get everyone out of the tunnels except for Steve who didn’t want to leave him alone down there to die. Thankfully, they all survived with Billy dropping the kids off at the Byers house before heading home to his punishment.

All in all, it didn’t really change much in the grand scheme of things expect for some Godforsaken reason, Steve and Billy became friends, making Steve popular again through Billy’s influence.

Billy also forced Steve to give a shit about his schoolwork since the blond was a secret nerd who bullied the Party into getting good grades like Max.

Ever since Billy revealed he knew D&D, the kids had been begging him to join them in a campaign, especially when they wanted to teach Max and El the rules of game.

It had warmed Billy’s heart to see Max become close to El, something he had never seen coming but even if the two girls were somewhat polar opposites in style, they ended up becoming best friends which kind of protected Max from Neil if ever Billy left since El was the Chief of Police’s daughter.

Billy even helped all of them with their looks for the Snow Ball, weirdly becoming especially close with El who bonded with him over having a bad Papa. El had offered to ask Hopper to deal with Neil but Billy didn’t want to risk Max’s future for his safety so he told El that he would endure for Max until El would need to step in.

With Billy’s help, Steve was able to get into a few colleges and come summer, Steve was ready to spend his last summer in Hawkins working at the new mall while his new best friend was spending the summer at the community pool playing lifeguard like Steve used to do. The mall paid better and Steve didn’t feel comfortable with pools after what happened with Barb so he referred Billy as his replacement.

The summer had passed fairly quickly for most of the kids since there wasn’t much to do in Hawkins. Dustin had gone to a science camp while Will had started therapy.

Lucas was working on his basketball skills, helped by Billy and Steve occasionally after he got the courage to ask them for some help. Mike was stuck being a loner since El had dumped him as soon as she became friends with Max.

It had been one of the biggest surprises in Billy’s life to see Max actually get a real girl friend since she’d only ever been comfortable with guys before.

Billy had willingly brought them to the mall several times a week so he could hang with Steve while they shopped. El was more of the typical girly girl while Max would usually choose pieces that kind of toed the line between masculine and feminine just so that Neil and Susan wouldn’t get on her case.

Soon, the kids would be heading into their first year of high school with Billy entering his last year, already planning on using his influence to shield the kids from the worst of it.

Of course, things don’t always go to plan since Billy was propositioned by the same creepy mom he’d had to flirt with to meet him at the motel slightly out of town.

He hadn’t planned to go at all but guilt and anxiety forced him to try to go out there and explain that he didn’t particularly go for women her age. He’d ended up getting into a slight car accident where he ended up possessed by the Mind Flayer.

The first thing Billy did after being flayed was head home because he was going to get an earful for not picking up Max and forcing Hopper to drop her off at their home.

When he arrived, it was just Neil and Susan and Billy was powerless to watch as the monster that got him got his parents when Neil went to slap him. They’d quickly set a trap but Max had seen through it and Billy had gotten enough control to tell Max to run away.

Thankfully, El and Hopper were just down the road and El was able to come back and deal with the Mindflayer with Billy’s help, leaving him feeling even more uncomfortable with his body after losing control over it.

He’d went to mall to tell Steve what happened only to get involved with the plot with Russians and beating up some communists with the strength he hated since he apparently still had some leftover from the monster who controlled him, all so El could shut the gate and stop this horror from happening again.

It was the last straw for Billy Hargrove who had just lost his parents, been possessed and lost control of his body. He didn’t want to be big, bad, Billy Hargrove anymore. Billy wanted to be Willow Carter, daughter of Sarah Carter and sister of Max Mayfield.

Steve had been the first person Willow had told and while he hadn’t understood at first, he was still supportive of her, even of her plans to leave for California.

Of course, she couldn’t just straight up and leave. The government wanted to know how in the hell Willow survived possession and gained powers.

She’d agreed to cooperate as long as the government funded her transition and her little brother’s transition as soon as Max had the courage to come out to her once Willow had started her transition.

The government agents had actually advised against transitioning after the possession but it was Willow’s way of reclaiming her body and there was no force on Earth that could stop her.

The scientists hadn’t been able to convince her to stay in Hawkins but instead, they offered her and Max an apartment and a pretty big payout if they would stay within the vicinity of another lab in California, specifically where the Byer-Hoppers were also moving after dealing with all of the bad things Hawkins has thrown their way.

Max would get to keep her best friend and Willow and Max would get to be one step closer to home and to being their authentic selves.

In California, the siblings blossomed. Willow was damn near radiant in the sun, teaching the younger kids how to surf all while Jonathan watched in awe of his new friend and definitely new crush.

The Hopper-Byers had been some of the first people to know about Max and Willow’s transitioning all because they were all in the same boat and while it had been pretty hard for Hopper to understand at first, everyone was supportive of the siblings.

Steve continued to write to and occasionally call Willow, keeping her updated about the goings on in Hawkins while she did the same about Lenora Hills.

With Willow no longer spending every free waking hour exercising, she had lost some muscle mass especially after the unnecessary hospitalization, making her more lithe and fit.

She and Max had gone immediately for chest surgery as soon as the option was available to them and the pair had gotten a few other cosmetic procedures done to make them look the way they wanted to look.

It had been Jonathan’s absolute pleasure to document their transition and to see Willow blossom into the beautiful woman that she was becoming.

Without her father’s influence, Willow was free to be as girly as she wanted to be, exploring makeup and returning to yoga and pilates.

She’d even gotten a few lessons from her stripper friends on how to dance and move around the pole and how she could reclaim her sexuality and sensuality through movement.

Sure, the pair would occasionally draw stares but Willow still had a mean glare and relatively big biceps so no one was willing to confront them.

The idiots who tried only got verbally eviscerated before being threatened physically which had them turning tail 100% of the time, too afraid to deal with Willow beating them into the ground with Hopper in the background with a hand on his gun as backup.

Willow had also reconnected with her old best friend, Argyle who hadn’t blinked at his bro turned into his sis and this led to Jonathan finding his new best friend in Argyle.

The three of them did everything together, even comforting Jonathan when Nancy broke up with him. Their lives in California were great and peaceful with the teens happily adjusting to their new atmosphere together with the help of the older teens who eased the way with Willow’s glares and Argyle’s kind nature.

Of course, the peace doesn’t last forever and they’re soon dragged back to Hawkins to deal with the bastard who started it all. While Will was less connected to the Upside Down, Willow had become more sensitive to it, all too aware of when Henry had gotten his first kill, informing everyone of what happened so they could leave for Hawkins as soon as possible.

With spring break literally just starting, Willow would race ahead with Will, Max and El while the Byer-Hoppers would make a pitstop to grab a friend of theirs who might be able to help as well as Kali who El insisted be involved.

They make Hawkins in good time, with Willow explaining all she knew from the MindFlayer which triggers El into remembering what happened on the way there.

Some government agents try to take El but Willow doesn’t let them, outmaneuvering their cars and speeding away from whatever bastard tried to trail her. One of them managed to come near during an unexpected stop but all of the pent up fury and the cocktail of hormones Willow was on led to the agent being down with just one punch.

When they arrive, no one is able to reconcile Willow with Billy Hargrove, surprising her best friend, Steve Harrington and intriguing the new guy on their team, Eddie Munson.

Willow immediately recognized the patches on his jacket and the Hellfire club shirt he was rocking which made Eddie fall in love at first sight again.

Steve on the other hand, had already had one bisexuality crisis aided by Robin about Billy and now he felt like he was about to have another one because of Willow.

Anyway, with the additional manpower, they were able to make a better plan of action, resulting in them being able to stop Vecna/Henry Creel once and for all.

It had felt really good for Willow to be able to use the gun shooting lessons her dad had forcibly dragged her to at too young of an age to kill the bastard who had essentially killed who she used to be. It also felt really good to be able to be the hero for once, saving Eddie from dying after he did an amazing rendition of Master of Puppets.

Afterwards, they managed to take down Dr. Brenner and expose the government project so that it would all be over. The California crew spent the rest of Spring Break in Hawkins, with Max reconnecting with Lucas as his authentic self while Lucas still blushed and stammered around him.

Willow, on the other hand, had been constantly split between Steve, Eddie and Jonathan who were all weirdly competing over who got to spend the most time with her.

Eddie had even promised to move down to California once he graduated and Steve, not willing to be one-upped, applied to transfer to the college that Willow had been planning to attend that Jonathan was already accepted in. It had felt exceedingly weird to return to their normal lives after but it was satisfying to know that there was no more danger from the Upside Down that might be able to wreck their lives.

Instead, Willow had to deal with the petty struggle of figuring out who her boyfriend/s were and how polyamory worked. In that regard, she envied her little brother who had gotten the hang of his relationship with El and with Lucas immediately under control.

However, Willow was just happy that she and Max were able to live their lives authentically and be happy doing it.

[aetherdoesthings]

TRANSFEM!READER X NAMI

reupload bc i messed something up.

forethoughts: i want to preface this by saying this piece of work will most likely contain inaccuracies of the experience of a transfem. as i cis woman, i don't have a good sense/idea of what a trans person's experience would be. nonetheless, i still hope you enjoy.

notes: transfem!reader

You’ve never felt like yourself ever since you came into the world.

Nothing felt just right.

You had grown up reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, how Goldilocks trespassed into the Bears’ home and tried their furniture, skipping each one until it was just right. Just right. Just right for Goldilocks to feel at peace. 

You wanted to be like Goldilocks. Minus the trespassing and breaking and entering, you wanted to find something that felt just right for you. Whenever you tried something new or did something different, it never felt right, and every failure drove a knife into your aching heart. 

Growing up, you were placed in a more unaccepting environment, being told you had to learn how to fish and operate a boat, or how to chop lumber and shave. That was how it worked, your seniors had said.

Now that you were older, more knowing and aware of your surroundings, the words that were once ingrained into your brain started to lose its platform. You had found the Straw Hats Pirates, who took you in and gave you a place to call home and people to call family. THey were the people you would die for and treasured dearly with all your heart.

That’s why you were so scared to tell them how you really felt.

Years of searching, you’d finally found what had made you feel just right. You’d found the root of all your problems and pain for a great portion of your life. 

You stood in front of the mirror, micro analyzing every part of your body and nitpicking each detail. You didn’t even notice the navigator of the ship standing behind you, until her tangerine eyes bore into your mirrored ones. 

“You’ve been staring at the mirror for quite the time. I’ve been standing behind you for five good minutes, and you didn’t notice.” Nami said matter-of-factly.

You let out a sigh, facing the navigator, your head hung and shoulders slump. “Sorry…”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to come by and tell you dinner’s ready.” Nami tilted her head, her smile turning into a thin line. “Something’s on your mind, Y/N?”

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s just go eat dinner.” You walked towards the door, wanting to leave the suffocating room as fast as you could. One problem. The navigator’s foot slammed the door shut, placing herself between you and your exit.

“Y/N, what did we say about avoiding your problems?” Nami shook her head, a comforting and reassuring smile on her face. “Come on, what’s on your mind? I’ve seen you anxious before; this is on another level if you’re staring at yourself in the mirror.”

Nami had always been there for you whenever you were feeling down, offering to listen to your problems and comfort you, letting you lie down on her lap as she combed your short hair. Out of all the Straw Hats, you were the closest to her. She always listened to you rant about your problems, but you always left out the biggest: the real reason you kept staring at the mirror everyday. 

“We’ve been through this before. I won’t pressure you into telling me why, but it’s unhealthy if you keep it bottled up inside you. You know I won’t tell anyone and I won’t judge.” Nami smiled, sitting down on your bed, patting on the spot next to her. Reluctantly, you trudged towards your bed, creating a dip in the mattress as you felt the navigator’s shirt brush against your broad shoulders. 

After a wave of silence fell upon the two of you, Nami spoke up. “Did you kill a man?”

“What? No!” You stuttered.

“Then what’s wrong?”

You looked down, taking a deep breath. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Help me understand, then.”

You looked at the navigator, searching for any sign of ambiguity before looking back down at your feet. “I’ve been… feeling out of place. I’ve always been feeling out of place. Nothing I do feels right. Nothing about me feels right. I don’t like… I don’t like myself. I don’t like who I am.”

“Oh, Y/N…” Nami sighed, placing a hand on your broad shoulders, watching your Adam's apple move. “I’m so sorry to hear that’s how you feel about yourself.”

“B-But… there’s something that I’ve been doing… and it really makes me really happy whenever I do it. It makes me not hate myself, it actually helps make me like myself. I like myself when I do that.”

Nami smiled. “Oh really? What is it? Do share.”

“W-Well… it’s a bit weird, and you’re going to judge me for it.” You mumbled.

“My dear Y/N, I would never judge you if you’re doing something, no matter how strange, that makes you happy. All I care about is your wellbeing and happiness. If I ever laugh at you for doing something ‘weird’ that makes you happy, you have all the right reasons to push me away and call me a bad friend.” Nami smiled, leaning in closer to you, her hand slithering down to your fidgeting fingers.

You clenched your eyes shut, sucking in a deep breath. “I like putting on makeup and wearing dresses.”

There it was. You had told her your biggest fear. Your biggest secret that swung above your head like a double edged sword. Now someone knew. Someone knew that you, as a male, was wearing makeup and putting on different dresses and skirts because you liked the feeling and the way it looked on you.

Silence filled the room. Not the good type of silence. The deafening, awkward type that always made it hard to breathe.

Then there was a chuckle. A small, faint, chuckle that came out of the navigator’s mouth. Nami chuckled, shaking her head as she rubbed your hand with small circles. “Oh, Y/N, was that all you were worried about? That I’d judge you for liking to wear makeup and put on dresses?”

You opened your eyes, looking at her with confusion. “Y-You’re not… creeped out?”

“Creeped out? Dear, why would I be creeped out?”

“I’m a boy… doing girl things…”

“Yeah, so? You’re happy doing it, aren’t you? That’s all it matters to me.” Nami grinned. “Besides, that gives me more of an excuse to bring you on my shopping sprees with Robin! We can buy all the makeup and dresses you want! Robin’s really good and painting your nails too! Don’t be scared, Y/N, it’s okay to like these things. If it makes you feel happy, do it. If it feels wrong, leave it.”

Tears began to form around your eyes. One drop, then another. You leaped into Nami’s arms, sobbing into her chest as you cried your heart out. You sobbed for the child that you once were. You sobbed for the person you once was. But you sobbed because you had finally found someone who would accept you for your biggest secret.

“Shhhh, it’s alright. It’s okay. I’m here.” Nami patted your head, planting a soft kiss in between your shoulder blades. When you had finally calmed down, you looked at Nami with red puffy eyes, a small smile on your face. Nami returned the smile, as her finger gently wiped away any remaining tear on your face.

“Do you want me to put some makeup on you before we go out to the rest of them?” Nami quietly asked.

“I d-don’t wanna tell them yet…” You shook your head.

“That’s okay. We’ll keep it between the two of us.”

“T-Thank you, Nami. Thank you so much.”

“It’s just common courtesy, my dear Y/N. Now get dressed, okay? Sanji’s not going to be happy if I leave him for too long. Choose something you want to wear, not what you think we want you to wear, alright? Remember, we’re your family. No matter what, so long you’re happy, we’re happy.”

You smiled at the navigator, at your confidant. You stood up, walking towards your closet as you pulled out the makeshift hidden drawer you made, putting it on and standing in front of the mirror.

For the first time in your life, you finally felt just right.

You had finally found home.

[my-inner-girl-cries-out]

Sam becomes Samantha

Sam had already begun drawing negative attention to himself ever since his 18th birthday with his new style that included his girly haircut, padded bras and makeup. But that attention was going to get a whole lot worse.

Once he got in the locker room he suddenly felt his panties tighten right as he dropped his pants. He quickly tried to hide what was perhaps the stiffest erection of his life, but nowhere near quick enough.

"YO! WTF?!? Sam has a huge hard-on! Gayyy!"

"I bet that he's a fag now and has been staring at us ever since he started cross-dressing."

"Yo someone tell Mr. G , have him call the police, I ain't showering in here with him. Sure as fuck not when he's railed up like that."

Sam was mortified. Inexplicably his body had completely betrayed him at the worst possible time. Sam wasn't even attracted to men, he liked women.

Damnit! Why was he even wearing bras and panties to begin with? How could this have happened?

Within minutes Sam heard sirens and was being escorted to the principal's office.

"Samuel you are in a world of shit" the officer stated as she sat down next to Sam.

“We have multiple accounts you were pleasuring yourself inside the boy's locker room."

"I wasn't pleasuring myself," Sam protested, "it.. it just happened! I wasn't even looking at anyone I swear!"

"I’ve got multiple witnesses saying otherwise. The only reason you aren't in jail already is that all parties were 18 years old (yourself included)."

"Normally, you'd be expelled this instant and looking at jail time but.." the officer hesitated, "trans-rights have become a big deal lately. I have to inform you that if you feel you were placed in the locker room of the wrong gender you can claim immunity to the charges brought against you. Of course, we can't have anyone exploiting this loophole so we'd need to be sure you were intending to become a trans-woman in the near future. Any half-ass attempts by yourself to pretend you were a woman to exploit the legal system would land you with the original charges and a bevy more."

Sam was freaking out. He was so close to graduating why did this have to be happening now? He wasn't a girl! This was fucking insane.

"Of course, we'd need to re-enroll you under your new identity. I'd suggest changing your name to Samantha too, that way you'd avoid the baggage with your past..ahem.. discretions."

"Your only other option is to get charged with felony assault and be immediately expelled" the officer stated. "I know what I'd do if I were in your shoes."

"Wh-What do I need to do?" Sam said teary-eyed.

"I just need you to sign this document, preferably with your new girl name, and your preferred pronouns. "She/her" for you in case that wasn't obvious. We'll also need to contact your parent to let them know. What's your Mother's name?"

Sam, now Samantha, began writing her new pronouns and signing her name. "M-Mom's name? It's Priscilla.. Priscilla Smith." Samantha was dizzy from how quickly this had all happened.

"Alright Samantha, well I'm glad we got this sorted out. You're very lucky, not everyone gets a second chance you know! I'm going to drive you home and let everyone here cool off and hopefully forget about what happened today. Okay, sweetie?"

"Here's your.." the officer paused "*daughter*, Miss Smith."

"Oh thank you so much officer, the school told me all about what happened."

"Then I'm sure you know Samantha here has invoked her rights as a soon-to-be trans-woman to avoid jail time for her 'little' public masturbation incident. We'll be keeping a close eye on her to make sure she's not trying to pull a fast one on us."

Samantha couldn't take her eyes off the floor she was so ashamed and embarrassed.

"Oh my" Miss Smith said throwing a quick wink and smile at the officer.

"It's none of my business really, but I suggest you keep her in line. Seems like what she needs more than anything is a little discipline. All that toxic masculine energy seems to be what's the real problem."

"Well thank you officer. I think deep down we always knew.. *Samantha* was going to be a girl someday. Didn't we sweet-pea?"

Feeling the glare of the officer from behind her, Samantha resistantly muttered "Yes Mom" while still staring at the floor.

"Goodbye Miss Smith, she's all yours now."

[newtthetranswriter]

Mourning Friendship

Word Count: 1419

Parinig: Takashi Mitsuya x Transmasculine!reader

Summary: After Having a falling out with one of your best friends, Takashi is there to reassure you that it’s okay to mourn your lost friendship and offer pizza and anime as comfort.

Warnings: Mentions of toxic friendship, some implied transphobia, reader is afab trans masculine, loss of friendship

A/n: Hello, first fic of 2024 and we’re starting the year with angst and comfort. I'd say this takes place sometime in the final timeline where everything is happy. This is also loosely based on some stuff I went through last year, so it was kinda self indulgent of me to write but hey I love Takashi and just want him to comfort me in times of dysphoria. It’s not the best but I’m trying to push past some writer's block so I hope you enjoy it. Any way Remember to Hydrate or Diedrate and requests are open.

    It’s never easy admitting when a relationship needs to end. Accepting the fact that someone you care about greatly, no longer fits in your life, is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I will admit that both sides were in the wrong at times and no one is perfect but I can’t help but to feel betrayed and slightly ashamed. If you told me a year ago that I would lose one of my closest friends, I would have probably called you crazy and walked away, but alas here I sit devastated because I had to end one of the best friendships I’ve had in a long time. 

    That’s how my loving boyfriend Takashi Mitsuya found me, crying in our shared bed, hiding from the fact that I lost someone I thought would be with me for the rest of my life. Being the kind and supportive person he is, Takashi didn’t push me to talk or explain anything, he just joined me on the bed and wrapped me in his arms, pulling me to his chest and letting me cry. We sat for probably an hour before I was finally able to talk.

     When he no longer felt my body shake from crying he gently lifted my chin to look me in the eyes. “Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked calmly, no sign of pressure to talk it out in his voice or expression, just concern for his partner.

     I sighed before nodding sitting up so I was next to him so we could talk in a more comfortable position. “You know how me and Jaina haven’t been talking much recently?” I asked, receiving a quick nod and motion for me to continue. “Well that’s because last time we hung out, she made a comment about how the reason she hasn’t introduced me to her family yet is because she wants to wait until I have my top surgery, to and I quote ‘prevent them from misgendering you, because it’s still easy to tell you’re a female.’ Obviously it rubbed me the wrong way. It should have been a discussion of if I wanted to meet them and if we both agreed on that it’d be one thing but her just deciding without asking if I was okay with it felt like she’s just embarrassed to have a transgender friend.” As I explained what happened Takashi’s face morphed from calm to one of pure confusion and lastly back to calm but there was clear anger in his eyes.

     “So, what you’re saying is one of your best friends refuses to introduce you to her family because you’re trans, and had the audacity to then also misgender you, to your face?” He asked clarifying what I had said. I just nodded once again realizing how terrible that conversation had been. “You have a right to be upset about it, but why didn’t you tell me sooner? I know how much that kind of thing affects you. Is that why you were crying when I got home?” He continued still looking for answers but not wanting to push it too much.

     I laid my head on his shoulder before responding. “I didn’t tell you when it happened because at the time I just brushed it off, I was feeling really happy otherwise at the time so it wasn’t a huge deal just made me hesitant to talk with her again. And no it’s not why I was crying, well not entirely. She messaged me earlier asking if we were okay and it just made me think of all the bullshit we’ve been through and how at some point our friendship went from besties to people who just nitpick everything the other does. It was honestly beginning to feel like a chore trying to keep the friendship in tact. So, that’s what I told her, I explained that in my opinion we had come to a point where it was no longer healthy to keep holding on to the friendship.” I explained, tears welling up again recounting the gist of my conversation from earlier in the day. “I told her that it would be best to end the friendship. She then tried to fight for it saying that we were just going through a rough patch and when I brought up her comments from the last time we hung out she tried to play it off as her trying to protect me. It just hurt so bad seeing her fight for something that clearly passed the point of fixing. I told her that I was done and stopped responding. Ultimately I guess I was crying because I thought we would be friends for life and admitting that it probably wasn’t meant to be, hurt so bad. I don’t know what to do Taka.” I finished turning my face into his neck, letting the tears fall for my broken friendship.

   He didn’t respond right away, just gently rubbed my back and played with my hair. It was clear he was trying to think of a response. “You keep going, simple as that. You were right to say that it wasn’t healthy, I’ve been watching you slowly crumble as you worked to keep it going. Don’t be too hard on yourself, let yourself mourn the friendship and give yourself time to move on. Just take your time to reflect on everything, remember the good times and then let it pass. I’m not saying forget her and the stuff you did, but accept that while there were so many great things that happened with her, there were ultimately too many bad things. It may take time to get passed and sure there will also be times where you think you’re passed it and something will remind you of her and you’ll struggle, but you just have to think about the happiness that happened and know that you still have people who support you.” He explained, reassuring me that it’s okay to be sad. “It’s okay to be upset, but don’t let it take over. You have so many people still standing with you, and we all just want to see you happy, I want to see you happy.” Takashi finished resting his chin on my head still holding me as I silently cried into his shoulder.

    “But why did it have to end up like this? I thought we would be friends for life. She helped me through so much.” I said through my tears. He was right that I had to accept the good times and move on but damn it hurts.

    I felt Takashi sigh before pulling me closer. “Not all relationships are meant to last a lifetime. Some things are only meant to last for short times. Think of it this way, she entered your life because you both had a lesson that the other needed to be taught about life, and once that lesson was learned and understood by both sides, it was time for her to exit your life and you to leave hers. Yes it ended harshly but maybe that was the lesson that was needed, while things can look and start off great, they may turn out to be bad for you in the end. Like I said before, be thankful for the good and bad times and appreciate the time you spent together. Maybe at some point in the future you will be brought together again.” He kept holding me as he spoke. “Now enough of the sad talk. How about we order a pizza and watch anime before going to bed?” Takashi offered, once again lifting my chin, this time wiping the tears from my face as he spoke.

   “That sounds nice, but what about hanging with the old Toman crew?” I asked knowing we had plans for a Toman reunion of sorts later this evening.

    “They’ll be fine without us, we do this thing every month. I’ll just text Ken and then I’ll order the Pizza, plus I'm sure they will understand.” He explained grabbing his phone from the nightstand. I just nodded and leaned back into his side not wanting to move anytime soon.

    “Thank you, Takashi. I don’t know what I would do without you.” I said quietly. “I love you so much.”

    He was already on the phone with the pizza place but leaned down and whispered an “I love you too.” placing a quick kiss to my lips before going back to the phone.

[ieatkeyboard]

How the Demon Brothers react to Leviathan coming out as trans

I had a giant conversation with my friend about my Obey Me headcannons and found a picture of Leviathan smiling in cosplay and it all just clicked so hear ya go! Warnings: All fluff, MTF Leviathan ASMODEUS: Levi told him first. He figured Asmo would understand more. "So what's up!" Asmo asked with a smile. "I think I'm um...a trans girl. No I know I am. I uhh..Sorry." She explained starting to tear up. Asmo was taken aback but smiled. "OH, HONEYY!" He yelled as he took Levi in for a hug. "That's amazing! Can I do your makeup? Are you gonna grow out your hair?! We have to go shopping! I know a place with really cute clothes!" Levi nodded and hugged him back. That went better than she had expected. BEEL: He was on his way to the kitchen when he saw Leviathan and Asmo come through the door with a bunch of bags. "Where did you go?" He asked, stopping for a moment. "We went to the mall!" Asmo smiled. Levi started to get anxious as she tried to wipe her lipstick off. "Why are you wiping your lips? Is that lipstick?" Beel asked and Levi's heart felt to the floor. What was she supposed to say? Was he upset? What if h- "Is it flavoured? Why are you wiping it away?" Levi looked up, shocked. Asmo smiled and grabbed a small pink tube from one of the bags. "It's strawberry flavoured tinted chapstick!" "Oh. Cool." Beel smiled and went back to the kitchen. Levi asked Asmo to help explain it later and Beel hugged Levi immediatly. "You're the best sister ever" + BELPHIE: Levi told him not long after he told Beel "So, you're a girl? You still play games though right? Cool cool...Wanna hang out later?" MAMMON: He barged in, of course, and saw Levi braiding her extensions. "YO- Wait- WHERE DID THAT (hair) COME FROM?" he yelled and Levi quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into her room. "Shut up you moron! Everyone will hear you!" She whisper-yelled. "Okay okay! So what's all this for?" He asked. Levi hesitated than explained. "I'm a girl...Being a guy has always made me so...Insecure." She said, lowering her head. "..So you're a girl because being a dude didn't feel right?..That's really great. Don't tell the others but I'm proud of you, ya know? You're real strong and braver than most of us for being yourself." Mammon said. "Promise not to tell anyone else?" "Promise! You can count on your big bro!" They hugged and Mammon proceeded to ask for money. SATAN: Satan pulled Levi aside. "I wanted to ask you about something. You have extensions, have been wearing lipstick, and wince when referred to as our brother or a 'he', is there something wrong?" Levi gripped her hands and began to explain "I'm a girl.." "Mmm I figured. You showed signs of gender dysphoria your entire life. Are you happier now?" "Yeah, I feel a lot better about myself" "Good. Is there a name you'd rather be called or is Leviathan and Levi still fine?" "No I like my name" "Alright good. I'll always have your back and if someone bothers you about this, tell me, alright?" "Thank you.." LUCIFER: Levi was especially scared of telling Lucifer. The brothers threw a coming out party so that Levi could feel less alone. Lucifer came back from grocery shopping and set the bags down near the door when he noticed the lights were out. A sliver of light slithered from the dinning room door and he went to investigate. "Hello? Is- What is this?" He said to himself as he looked at the food on the table and the banner on the wall, reading "It's a..." He turned around to see Leviathan, wearing a dress, makeup and her hair in a high ponytail as she held onto an envelope. The rest of the brothers walked in and Leviathan handed Lucifer the envelope. "I've been meaning to tell you for a while now...But I didn't know how so the others offered to help." Lucifer nodded and took the note into his hand, unfolding and beginning to read it. "I'm a girl. I'm your sister" Lucifer looked up and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you...So..so proud of you, Levi" Levi began to cry and the brothers joined the hug. No matter what they'd always be family

[fandomsareforlife]

KOTLC soulmate au

So, this is the Sokam fanfic that I have been talking about for a while. It kind of just ends abruptly, but that's because I am so unmotivated to finish. I might finish it eventually, but this is the entire google doc I made of it. I also included my remaining outline, and that is definitely a rough thing. This almost a year old, so I am probably a better writer. But I know that definitely wrote somethings differently than I would today. Also, the formatting is weird since tumblr is so sorry about thatz

Also, this includes some headcanons for me including genderfluid Tam (he/they/she/xe), trans Keefe (he/him), trans Linh (she/her), and nonbinary Sophie (they/them).

So, trigger warnings. This includes things like abuse (of all kinds), violence, suicide, outing someone without permission, hiding injuries and trans/homophobia. More details under the cut. Please let me know if something needs to be tag.

Now, onto the story.

Spoilers: The trans and homophobia thing comes from a term that the lost cities uses, "moonchild," that describes any elf that is LGBTQ+, and it is not seen as a good thing. Forkle, Quan and Mai, Keefe's parents are the most prevalent. Fitz outs Sophie to Della unmaliciously, and Della outs Sophie to Forkle. Also, Tam tries to jump out of a window, but is thankfully unsuccessful.

Tam hated the stories his parents told about how they were soulmates since they were thirteen. He hated the fact that they always told him and Linh that they will never meet their soulmates.

However, that didn't stop him from hoping he had one. Even if he never met them outside of the dreams they would share, it would be nice to have someone else besides Linh to care about.

His life was a mess of thinly veiled insults and threats and comforting Linh after she was hurt.

Ancients, please send me a sign, Tam pleaded as he held Linh through another nightmare.

—-

When he was eight, Keefe had a weird dream. It started out with him being in Candleshade's foyer, a room he hated with a passion. It had one of the few paintings in his home, with a painting of him and his parents. Of course, it didn't show him the way he wanted it to but he couldn't do much about it just yet.

Looking around, Keefe became more and more confused. For one, this dream was extremely realistic, with no detail out of place. His dreams were never this detailed. They also didn't feature him in the wrong body, instead putting him in the right skin, for however long his dream lasted. For another, there were two figures sitting on a set of chairs, one blonde and another black haired. They both appeared to be wearing their pajamas.

Keefe, against his better judgment, walked up to them.

"Hi, I’m Sophie, she and her. This is Tam, he and him. He doesn't talk much,"the girl, Sophie apparently, greeted. I

The boy, Tam, next to her waved his hand shyly. They both looked to be his age. However, something was off with Sophie.

It wasn't until Keefe got closer that he realized why. She had brown eyes. She was a human.

Keefe had to stop himself from gasping. This had to be a really weird dream. While he had briefly entertained the idea of being a soulmate dream, the fact that Sophie had brown eyes removed any possibility of it from his mind.

"You have brown eyes," Keefe dumbly stated. Great going Keefe, now they will never want to be your friend, a voice taunted.

"Oh. You're from the same place Tam is from, then. Um brown eyes are common where I am from. And apparently, mansions are common here. Um, if you don't mind, what is your name and pronouns? Also do you know where we are?" Sophie, who was surprisingly mature for a human her age, responded.

"Um, my house. I'm Keefe, he and him,"Keefe stuttered. He didn't know why but he felt like he could trust these two with his deepest secret, one that he had kept in the back of his mind.

"Um I am sorry but um is this place, um are you guys real?" Tam,who up until this point had been silent.

"Um yes I am real. Although I thought dream sharing didn't start until 13?" Sophie responded.

By now, Keefe had started to get his head around the idea of this being a shared dream. Maybe an elf and a human can be soulmates. That last comment was however the cherry on top.

"Well maybe we are special," Keefe tried to comfort. He really wasn't one for comforting but he was going to try his hardest.

Luckily, that seemed to be good enough for the others, simply nodded.

After a few moments of silence, Tam asked," Can we go exploring?" in a soft voice that if Keefe wasn't listening for it he would have missed it.

"Yeah we can," Keefe responded, his voice just as gently, not wanting to frighten the boy.

——

"Mom, what does dreamsharing feel like?" a young Keefe asked his mother, who was sitting in the kitchen.

"Well, child, it felt like I was in a familiar yet completely new place all at once. It was so vivid yet I had never been there before," Lady Gisela explained, not particularly patient but she didn't snap so that was a good thing.

While Keefe occasionally has trouble differentiating between a vivid dream that was of pure imagination and one from his photographic memory, he was sure he had never seen Tam and Sophie before. Even if he had his doubts at first with Sophie's brown eyes, Keefe figured he was just special.

"I think I dream shared mom," Keefe admitted, gently putting his hand on his mother's.

"She must be so lonely that she's imagining fake friends. Pathetic," was the muttered response to his admittance. "Maybe she is too broken to be my legacy."

While Keefe couldn't completely understand the last sentence, the first shattered him. While he had a habit of making fake friends, he had never made a friend as detailed as Sophie and Tam. They were real, even if no one else believed them.

—-

A while after the first dream, about two weeks, was a second. Sophie was grateful for it, both because the noise of the thoughts people had were not existent and since she got to see her only friends.

Wow, that's sad,Sophie thought.

It wasn’t like Sophie didn’t try to get along with the other kids, but between hearing everybody's thoughts and her intelligence, it was tricky. It had been years since someone tried to be her friend. It didn’t help that she could hear their thoughts and it hurts more than it should. She was just grateful she couldn’t hear thoughts in her dreams, that would make her friendship with Tam and Keefe all the more harder.

She looked around the room she was in. It appeared to be a very luxurious home, almost as much as Keefe's. There was the same amount of crystals it seemed.

"Hi, Sophie," a small voice called out to her. Sophie turned around and smiled.

Standing by the entrance to the hallway was Tam. He looked even cuter than last time, especially with his tired eyes.

"Where are we?" Sophie asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"My home. We're in the foyer right now. Wanna find Keefe and see if he wants a tour?" Tam explained, a small smile gracing his lips.

"I would like a tour but only if you want to do it," came a voice from behind them. Looking up, Sophie realized that Keefe had entered the foyer, a smirk on his lips.

Tam ran up to him, asking,"May I give you a hug?" After getting confirmation that he can, he took Keefe into his arms and squeezed him so hard that Keefe pretended to choke, but the effect was ruined by the fact that he was laughing.

Tam took Sophie's and Keefe's hands and led them out of the foyer, into a glimpse of his world.

—-

Sophie might have almost slipped up during the tour though.

They were sitting on Tam’s bed, when the boys tried asking about her day.

“Oh, it was good. My teacher pretended to get mad at me for being right on something he was wrong on, but I read his mind, and he was impressed!” Sophie cheered, jumping up and down. She was so excited she hadn’t noticed her slip up.

“Wait, read his mind?” Tam asked, leaning forward to look at her. Sophie felt the urge to tug her eyelashes out, but resisted.

“I, um, I,” Sophie stammered, her hands wringing. “I read his body language, and read some of his notes. I didn’t read his mind. I mean how would that even work right?” she laughed, even though her stomach wanted to jump out her throat.

It was clear from Tam and Keefe’s faces that they doubted her, but she didn’t care. As long as they dropped the subject it would be enough for her.

Luck was on her side and they dropped it, although they gave her glances every once in a while.

—-

Tam felt as though his heart would explode out of his chest.

His parents had tried to convince him and Linh that they should pretend that they weren't twins. It wasn't anything new. They've been doing that for as long as Linh had said she wanted to be a girl, and it was easier to pass them off as two siblings with Linh a year older.

However, after the last dream he shared with Keefe and Sophie, he wanted to change something. He was tired of living a lie, like Keefe was forced to.

However, when he brought the idea to Linh, she told him that she wouldn't follow him through with it. While Tam knew she was entitled to her opinion, he could not help but think her opinion was stupid.

Luckily, a few days after he brought up his idea to Linh, he had another shared dream.

This one started in a very basic home. It was the most depressing room Tam had ever been in his short life. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration but it was very sad compared to the, admittedly limited, places he had been in his eight years of life.

Tam suddenly remembers that Sophie didn't live in the Lost Cities. Perhaps this was her home.

"Sophie? Keefe?" Tam called out, wanting to reassure himself that they were safe.

Suddenly, a body came running up to him, and tackled him. Judging by the fact that there was maniacal laughter and a wide smirk, Tam guessed that it was Keefe.

Pushing the shorter boy off of him, and mentally reminding himself to ask Keefe why he had such long hair, Tam smiled at Keefe.

"Hi Keefe. How are you? This is a change. Where is Sophie?" Tam greeted, while definitely not blushing. It seemed he was unsuccessful if the blonde's laughs were anything to go by.

"Hi hi Tammy. I'm fine. Better with you. Yeah no Sophie is weird," Keefe responded, his voice lacking his usual enthusiasm. That alerted Tam, since although he had only known the younger boy for a little while, he had thought that he was a ball of energy.

"Hi guys," a chipper voice behind them yelled. "I guess we're in my house this time."

Standing in what Tam presumed was her night clothes, Sophie was bright eyed and bushy tail.

Forgetting to ask Keefe why he looked so sad, he allowed himself to be dragged around the house that was so different from what he was used to.

—-

Keefe was getting older, almost old enough that his parents were thinking about allowing him to get out of the house. After all, he was 10 years old.

However, there were many obstacles to overcome. For starters, he was considered a disappointment in every way imaginable. Another was that he was known as a girl, not as the boy he wanted to be viewed as.

Keefe knew what people who felt like him were treated. Other people called them moon children, both under breaths and to their faces. Keefe couldn’t choose what was worse, the hatred or the lie.

Luckily, Sophie and Tam knew. They didn’t know the whole story, but that was okay. They weren’t going to learn the truth for a while.

Keefe could not wait to dream share again with the two most wonderful people he knew.

(So what if he didn't know anyone else who actually cared about him. They still were the best.)

Luckily he didn't have to wait long. Only until he fell asleep that night.

Keefe found himself in Atlantis, a place he had never been to but he recognized it from the water surrounding him.

Keefe took a glance around, noting that he was standing in front of the matchmakers office.

(A bitter feeling rose from within him, as he thought about the fact that he would never get a match list.)

Keefe was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize someone was behind him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah!” he screeched, confusion filling his core before he realized who it was.

Poor Sophie was so terrified she almost fell. Fortunately Tam was close enough to grab her but it still was a close one.

"I don't need you to fall for me Soph," Tam teased, looking brighter than ever. "I know I am good looking. By the way, we're in Atlantis. It's like New York where me and Keefe live."

Keefe was impressed with the amount of knowledge Tam had, both of humans and Atlantis.

"Oh cool! It's really cool that you guys still have places based off of the legends!" Sophie gushed. Her hands were waving wildly, like they had a tendency to do when she was excited.

Keefe wanted to just soak up the goodness of the interaction, when Tam turned to him suddenly.

"Hey, you wanna go on a tour? I don't know if you've been here before but it's really cool," the black haired boy rushed out.

Keefe nodded, and allowed himself to be dragged along with the two other children into a world he had never known.

—-

Sophie was in complete and utter awe in the way the city, Atlantis, was.

It looked to be entirely made of crystals and the buildings were as tall as could be. There were some strange things here, like the blue fire, but she brushed it off as a very elaborate light.

"My parents took us here for shopping ," Tam explained, his voice surprisingly neutral throughout his sentence, despite the smile on his face. He was the unofficial leader of the group , leading the other two through the city that looked just like it’s namesake.

Entering one of the stores, Sophie was surprised at what she found. Instead of the usual shirts and pants she found at stores, there were tunic and some sort of jacket. It seemed to be made of leather, and had a very medieval feel to it.

"Can I go try one on? My parents won't let me wear anything like that, only dresses," Keefe asked hesitantly. He was fisting his pajama top, not looking up at either Sophie or Tam. While she did wonder why his parents would make a boy wear dresses, she passed it off as a weird parent thing.

After Tam gave the confirmation he could go, Keefe ran towards the tunics, and gestured to Sophie to come follow.

"What kind of fabric are they? I've never seen this before?" Sophie wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Tam stated, looking down at his knees.

Trying to look for a tag, Sophie realized all she could find was some odd sort of lines.

Asking what they were got her a panicked and confused expression, from Tam and Keefe specifically. The dream then suddenly faded to black, and Sophie woke up. gasping. She would later learn that shared dreams could end if one was too close to learning where their soulmate lived before they met. She cried for hours after that.

That was the first time they ended a dream on her.

—-

Tam, after two years, had gotten used to having dreams in places she had never been before.

(She had also gotten used to the knot in her stomach on some days, the days when she wanted to not be a boy, but someone. It wasn't all the time, but it hurts.)

It was a medium sized room, with about 20 of one of the most uncomfortable chairs with a desk in front of them.

Tam then realized that she was also sitting on a rug, with some strange symbols on it.

"Hi, Tam," Keefe greeted, a smile stretched across his face. He had snuck up to Tam when she was distracted with trying to figure out what those symbols were. "Is this one of your places or no?" Keefe's hands were twisting his tunic, a long black one with buttons.

Keefe quickly sat down by Tam and cuddled up to him.

"Hi Keefe," Tam greeted. "No, I think this is one of Sophie's dreams. Do you think it's some weird human thing?"

Keefe had come to Tam with his suspicions that the third member of their group was not an elf about a year ago. While there had been some evidence to the contrary, specifically the second dream shared, the fact that Sophie lived in the Forbidden Cities was enough to cancel out any other possibilities. They had decided to not say anything to her as to not hurt her feelings, since they would never meet, or accidently reveal something was amiss.

Just then, Sophie walked up to them, from somewhere. She then sat on the floor by Tam and gave her a big hug.

"This is my school. We're learning about right triangles and it's really fun!" Sophie chirped, a smile on her face. "Of course the other kids are kinda mean since I am two years younger than them, cause I moved up two grades," she then frowned, obviously upset about that fact.

Tam was still confused. Sophie was only eight, why was she in school so early. Although she had mentioned that she was with kids two years older, that still didn't clear anything up.

"Why are you in school when you're so young?" Tam blurted out, interrupting Keefe's interrogation as to what right angles were.

"We start school when we're five, what do you mean young?"

Keefe cleared his throat. "Well, where me and Tam are from, we get homeschooled until we are about eleven, which we then start school with other kids. Only, I think our school has only one desk in a class, since we have one mentor for a prodigy."

Sophie's expression was so confused it almost made Tam laugh, but she decided to take pity on the blonde girl.

"How do your teachers deal with," Tam quickly counted the amount of chairs,"25 kids?"

Sophie laughed and confessed she had no idea. They laughed, when Keefe started coughing.

"Are you okay?!" Tam and Sophie cried out, concerned about their friend. (Well you want him to be something more, taunted the voice inside of Tam's head).

"No."

"Do you need something?"

"Yeah, for this to get off my chest." Keefe then tugged his tunic off, showing a tight cloth around it, binding his chest flat.

Sophie gasped, and immediately started lecturing him about how unsafe this was, and forced him to take off the bandages. Tam also helped, even though he felt numb. Why would his soulmate do this to himself?

Eventually, they managed to calm down enough that they could get in a comfortable position. They ended up with Tam sitting on what Sophie called a beanbag, Keefe on her lap, and Sophie sitting on the edge.

After some gentle prodding, they managed to get Keefe to open up.

"Because it is just too much. And, And if my mom found out then she's going to start harping on me about being a girl... I'm not a girl. But if I say something I'm going to be in big trouble,"Keefe gasped through his sobs. He was wearing his tunic again, and wrapped his limbs around Tam.

Tam noted that Sophie was at a loss, but he knew what Keefe was talking about. It wasn't a well known fact, but in the lost cities, anyone who wanted to be a different gender was not treated the best. They were almost as bad as twins if they were talentless, but just as bad if they had an ability. This was because they couldn't have children, so they were less likely to be matched. She still remembers the times her parents would yell at Linh about being a moonchild.

Tam pushes those thoughts out of her head, and focuses her efforts on Keefe. She also promised to make sure to punish whoever made Keefe feel like this one day.

-----

Keefe couldn't believe he was going to do this. He was sitting on a plush sofa, across from his parents, in his room. He was close enough to smell his mother's perfume, a lilac scent. Gripping his tunic, he forced himself to make eye contact.

"Well, get with it, love," his father ordered, his eyebrow raising slightly.

Keefe forced himself to take a deep breath, through the tightness in his chest. He wasn't using a cloth to bind his chest, not after the dream he had a few days ago.

"I have something to tell you," Keefe stammered, watching his parents become more and more irritated with how slow he was taking. "I'm a moon child, and I don't care if you hate me, or if getting a match is impossible. This is who I am, and this lie that is my life is getting tiring." Tears were streaming down Keefe's face, as the emotions that were threatening to spill over spilled.

His father sighed, as he walked towards Keefe.

Placing a hand on Keefe's, he sighed,"Well. You seem to not be lying. Well, man up, boys don't cry. I'll have the gnomes make your clothing fit for a gentleman of your stature." Cassius then walks away, leaving his wife to mull over what just happened.

Keefe felt a grin, then a laugh, bubble up inside him, threatening to escape. His mind just couldn't wrap around the idea that his father would accept him with such ease. Little did he know that his father didn't truly accept him, and wouldn't for years to come.

—-

There was a bundle of nerves in Sophie's stomach. Today was the day. The day they told her the two people closest to them, besides their family. one of the biggest revelations in her life. One they haven't told anyone before.

They took a deep breath, eyes scanning the room the dream had started in for them. They were in their home again, with them being in the living room. There was a half-eaten cake, with a few presents scattered around the room. Their favorite blanket was on the back of her sofa, as though their dreams somehow knew what she would need.

A few moments passed, before Tam and Keefe walked in, holding hands. Sophie wasn't jealous of the fact they were together when the dream started. In fact, it was a good thing because it so rarely happened. Usually, Keefe would start his dream by himself.

"It repeated," Keefe stated, in what some would assume was a deadpan, but they knew that they were just giving an observation. Sophie could empathize. It was rare to have a location for a shared dream to repeat. It typically only happened in dire cases.

Tam nodded, then turned to Sophie."What's going on?" he asked softly, his eyes glancing at the cake in front of them. They couldn't blame him.

"Well, today was my birthday so we stayed in and played a lot of board games, and ate cake. Also, I have something to tell you two, but you have to promise to not hate me." There. That was a great way to start this conversation.

Keefe nodded, then asked,"Do you want us close or far away from you?" Sophie thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. She then gestured for them to sit on one sofa next to them, which they did.

"So what's going on?" Tam asked surprisingly gently, his hand on their side.

"Um, well I kinda realized something recently and wanted to tell you. You know how Keefe is a boy despite not having a boy's body?" Sophie ventured, desperately hoping they didn't hate them after this. They accepted Keefe, but he fell into a nice neat little box that Sophie didn't.

"Yeah. What does that have to do with this?" Keefe questioned, genuine curiosity in his voice.

Sophie took a deep breath, and started to explain.

"Well, I don't want to be a girl, and while being a boy is kinda better, it's still not okay. Like, I'm in between two water falls, and I need to drink from them once in a while, but drinking from one too long is really bad. I know it is weird but it's how I feel. It's called being non-binary, in the human world." Sophie rushes out, their voice steadily becoming thicker with tears. They were so out of it they barely registered Tam lifting her on his lap.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't hate you. Want us to use different pronouns?" his voice soothed, although there were some tears streaming down his face. Why? Sophie thought.

"They and Them. Why are you crying?" their voice responded, after they crawled out of the mud her mind was in.

"Um, because I kinda feel like that sometimes. But not the same. It's more like I have a closet, with a lot of different clothes, some super similar, but some different. Sometimes I want to put on one thing but the next moment I want to put on a completely different thing. I'm not doing a great job at explaining it, but it's how I feel," he whispered, his hand clutching Sophie tighter. They felt Keefe's hands settle on their bodies, pulling them closer.

Sophie thought they knew what he was going through, but wanted to check first. After getting off Tam's lap, they went to grab their iPod, opening the internet. While Keefe and Tam couldn't see the screen, it still worked in their dreams.

"So, um I think I found out what you might be. It’s called being genderfluid, and it’s basically when your gender changes. I found a quiz that is supposed to help you get a start on understanding it.. There’s a bunch of questions so I am going to read them off to you and you can answer them okay?"

After getting confirmation from Tam, Sophie started reading off the questions they found. After asking all the questions, Tam put his head in his hands, and Keefe, who had been quiet this whole time, stroked his back softly.

"Do I need to make a decision now?" he whispered.

"No," Sophie and Keefe responded simultaneously.

"You can go at your own pace. If you ever want to tell us, you can," Keefe declared, his voice filled with confidence.

"Okay. I'm going to be thinking about this, so I'm going to tell you later. It's kinda sudden, you know?"

"Yeah, that's cool. I get how you feel," Keefe responded.

---

Shortly after the conversation, Tam had come to a decision. Xe were not completely sure of the term gender fluid describing xem , but it seemed to fit how xe felt. Xe were Tam Song, the rowdy spawn of Quan and Mai Song, and Linh Song's twin.

"I have an answer."

"What?" Keefe asked, from his side. They were playing Mario Kart, and he was winning.

"I think I am genderfluid. Use Xe/Xem right now, let you know if it changes,no new name," Tam smiled, feeling freer than ever.

"Okay," Sophie smiled, then proceeded to hit Keefe with a blue shell. Keefe yelled, and pushed Sophie causing them to laugh. Tam chuckled softly as a soft, bubbly filled xem right up.

—-

Linh had manifested the day before her and Tam's tenth birthday, and since then she hadn't been out of Choralmere for long periods of time. It's been ten months since she left her home for more than a few hours, since the twins could convince people that she and Tam were in fact twins. It had been an uphill battle for Tam to get her to tell other people that they weren't twins, but eventually she cracked. It was when he admitted that he told his soulmates they were twins that did it. Linh hadn't realized that he had even begun dreamsharing, and judging by Tam's reaction, he didn't want to tell her. Their scheme was only in motion for two months, up until Linh had stopped leaving their house.

However, today things were looking up. The day before was when she had her Foxfire entrance exam, in which she was able to keep control of the water long enough to impress the examiners. Her parents were so proud they promised to take both twins to a surprise place as a reward.

They had taken the twins to Atlantis, both because they needed school supplies for Linh but also because they knew that the twins were much more subdued in the bustle of the crowds.

Tam had a deathly grip on Linh's hand, as he tried to keep them close to their parents. Despite publicly being the oldest, Linh was more often than not treated as though Tam was older. He was just naturally braver.

However, Tam was holding something secret from Linh. It hurt Linh that her twin would hide something from her, which was definitely strange considering they never did before. Linh was determined to find out what.

Eventually, they made it to the bookstore, which while having a good crowd, was emptier than usual. That was a good thing for Linh's plan.

"Me and your father will get your books while you two go get some books for your free time,"'Mai told them briskly. Linh nodded rapidly, and grabbed Tam's wrist, dragging him towards the children's section, which was not very crowded.

"Linh, what are you doing?" Tam asked, irritated. He was tugging at his bangs, a nervous habit.

"What are you hiding from me?" she whispered, yelling, desperately.

"What?"

"Don't act dumb, you're hiding something."

Tam took a deep breath, as though preparing for a fight.

"You know how you're a girl, despite mom and dad saying you're a boy? I'm kinda like that, but it's different. Sometimes my mind feels like a girl, sometimes it's a boy and sometimes it's neither. It's not fun. Go ahead and laugh," Tam sobbed, almost silent.

Linh was shocked, at the idea that her twin felt that she would laugh at him for something he couldn't control.

"Hey it's okay. Do you want me to use different pronouns?"

"Um, yeah, it's She/Her right now," Tam laughed, his - no her - face ecstatic.

"So they change?" Linh clarified, feeling so much lighter than before.

"Um, yeah, but I'll tell you when they do."

Linh nodded, then grasped Tam's wrist and strolled around the book store, getting a good load of books. Linh was feeling so giddy, she didn't know how to control herself.

When they went back to their parents, they gave the twins a single look and looked away again. It hurt Linh, but she forced herself to keep going.

She should have known that was the beginning of the end.

When they walked outside of the bookstore, Linh almost cried out. The water, which usually was a mezzo forte piano and violin, was now an orchestra playing their loudest most extravagant piece, wanting to draw your attention. It was quickly becoming too much.

Tam, god blessed her soul, tried to help. She forced her shadows around Linh, which made it a bit better, but still wasn't enough.

It happened so fast, in the blink of the twins light blue eyes. Water splashed around everywhere, terrifying people. It shocked Linh's whole body.

Linh could vaguely hear the words of everyone in her ears. The yelling voices of her parents, her twin uncharacteristic soft voice in her ear, the panicking sounds from everyone else that dissolved into anger. She heard it all.

It was all mild nuisances compared to what would follow.

—-

Sometimes it was just a few days between the shared dreams, sometimes it was over a month. However, after hearing what had happened in Atlantis,Keefe wasn't surprised that he shared a dream.

It was in Atlantis. Everything was wrong though. There was water everywhere, and shops were destroyed.

In the middle of a street was Tam and Sophie. They were sitting down, Tam curled up in a ball, Sophie running their fingers through Tam's hair. Keefe walked up to them, making sure to alert them of his presence. He sat down beside them, which got both of his soulmates attention.

"They. I'm sorry, this was my fault," Tam mumbled, their eyes glazed and their voice dead.

"I don't even know what happened, so why should I hate you," Keefe retorted, cursing himself for the joking tone his voice had taken on.

"I caused this," Tam declared, gesturing with the arm that wasn't curled around their knees. They had also started rocking back and forth. Keefe wished

"I tried telling him that it isn't their fault, but they aren’t listening,” Sophie explained, their brown eyes filling with tears. Their hand was still petting Tam’s hair. It was times like this that Keefe wished he could feel their emotions. It would have made this a lot easier. However, your abilities didn’t work in dreams, annoyingly enough.

Eventually, Tam was able to calm down enough that they uncurled himself. Their face was tear stained, but no one mentioned it.

“Want to tell us what happened?” Sophie questioned, their hand still in Tam’s hair.

“No,” Tam spatted out, and turned away from them.

Keefe knew why Tam didn't want to talk about what happened. He had heard, everyone had heard, when Atlantis flooded. It was terrifying, and Tam might not want to relive those moments.

"Soph, maybe we don't force Tam to tell us anything he doesn't want to, okay?"

Sophie gulped, "Okay.”

Keefe then turned towards Tam and tried comforting him again.

"I'm sorry for being such a baby about this."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"It's just, me and Linh have to go to trial, and we might be kicked out."

"But, your what, ten, eleven?" Sophie gasped.

"Um, ten. Technically, I don't have to go, but I do. I can't leave Linh alone. She's my world, so I need to keep her safe."

"I wish I could do something. Even if it's just changing the dream so it's happier."

"Yeah, me too," Tam sighed, his eyes looking hazy as he took Keefe and Sophie's hands.

---

The next night, Sophie dreamshared. It was different from usual, with Keefe standing next to them when the dream started.

They were in a spacious area, with what seemed to be thrones all around the room. There was little light, and benches everywhere.

In the middle was Tam, with silver bangs and a sweet lilac smell. Sophie and Keefe were wise enough not to comment, especially since there still were tears stains on Tam's cheeks.

"This was where the trial took place," Tam whispered. "They banished Linh, and I'm going with her." Sophie didn't know what happened but they felt Tam's shirt under their fingers. They felt Tam's chest heaving, with soft sobs escaping from Tam. Sophie wished that their ability to read minds still worked in the dreams.

"Will you be okay?" Keefe questioned. Sophie cursed themselves for not realizing that was a valid concern. Tam and Linh were only 10, they needed things like food and shelter and clothes. They couldn't get a job or anything. They hadn't even started school.

"Yeah. Linh and I get our own place, and we will interact with whoever brings us our food, at least for the beginning,” Tam admitted. Sophie felt their shoulders relax, and Tam started to calm down.

“So, it’s not as bad as it could be?”

“I guess, but the place me and Linh have to go to is a place for bad kids,” Tam muttered, eyes cast on the floor.

“Well, do you think you are bad?” Keefe asked.

“No, but most bad people don’t realize they are bad, so am I a good judge?” Tam whimpered.

Sophie took Tam into their arms again, “ I know I don’t like where you and Keefe do, but I want you to know that I think you are not evil. Everyone who says otherwise is wrong. Okay. They are wrong.”

Tam gave them a watery smile,”Thank you, Sophie.”

Sophie wished she could believe Tam fully but she knew Tam didn’t fully believe it.

—-

Tam was not in the greatest of mental states.

No, wait, scratch that, his mental state was worse than Exilium. At least that had some predictability. Tam was just wild.

If one were to ask him when his mental degradation started, he would have said their first day of Exilium. However, it had started much earlier than that.

It had started the appointment with the doctor the council had hired.

Tam still felt his hands on him, his hands ghosting his body. He felt the tears filling his heart, which was still filled with them.

He remembered everything.

Tam tried to be strong in front of Linh. However she wasn’t fooled. She kept trying to get him to talk. Tam was grateful for her attempts to show she cared, it was just...

Talking would make it real. It would require it to be in the front of his mind, forcing him to confront it. No, Tam could ignore it, that would work.

It wasn’t until the next shared dream that he realized that plan wasn’t perhaps the most sane.

It started out in Keefe’s room. Due to both their age and the amount of time they had been dreamsharing (almost 3 years) the places had started repeating.

Tam was on Keefe’s desk, not an unusual place for him to start.

Sophie was on Keefe’s bed, their eyes looking at the ceiling as they kicked their legs.

“Hi Tam!” they cried, when Sophie realized that Tam was on the desk. “How ya been?”

Tam shrugged, as a soft click filled the room from his fingernails against the desk.

“Are you and Linh okay?”Sophie prodded gently, walking towards Tam. They grabbed his hands, startling him as he realized he had been scratching at them again.

“We are as fine as possible, given our situations. It’s tiring though, because our new school makes us do a lot of exercise,” Tam replied. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie either.

Sophie nodded, then turned around. Standing behind them was Keefe, in his new tunic and smelling like pine trees.

“Hi Tam, Sophie,” he greeted, walking over to them. “How are you two?”

“Good,” Sophie replied, leaning into Keefe’s gentle touch as he petted her hair. Tam couldn’t believe he was so gullible once upon a time to allow someone to touch him like that. It only hurt him.

“I’m as good as my situation allows me to be,” Tam replied. His throat was closing up, and he eyed the window across the desk he was still on.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just jump? To let go of everything? To let go of this pain?

It was the moments after that cracked Tam’s mask. It should be noted he has no intention to blame Keefe and Sophie, as this might have happened with anyone else.

Keefe tried to take him into a hug, and Tam jumped away from him. When neither Keefe or Sophie tried to touch him again, anger and desperation clouded his mind.

“Why aren’t you touching me? Is it because I am used goods? I didn't want it, okay!” Tam roared. He felt his nails digging into his hands, and barely allowed himself to register Sophie and Keefe’s gasps.

Tam ran towards the window, and pried it open. He could still feel his soulmates running towards him, but he was quicker.

Tam sat on the windowsill and pushed himself off.

What happened was not what he expected.

Instead of hitting the ground, Tam felt a gentle pull, almost like a rope on his stomach, pulling him back towards the window.

When he got back into Keefe’s bedroom, he felt both of his soulmates hand all over him, with one of them whispering sweet nothings in his ears. It was too nice for him.

“Why?” Sophie whispered, making Tam shudder with how innocent she sounded.

“Because it’s too much,” Tam muttered, causing Keefe to force Tam to look him in the eyes.

“What can you do to make it not as much?” he asked , his eyes softening as he grabbed Tam’s hands in his own. Tam resisted pulling them away.

“I don’t know. It’s, like, touch is hard. Even now it is. It’s dumb,” -Tam wiped his eyes -“but I can still feel his hands on me.”

Keefe and Sophie didn’t say anything, but Keefe does squeeze Tam’s hands harder.

“Maybe,” Sophie started,”we could start small. Asking you if touch is okay, making sure you are still here, stuff like that. Is that okay?”

Tam couldn’t believe it when he started crying. It was just...

The way Sophie looked so sincere when they said that made Tam’s heart flutter. They weren’t saying it to be polite, they meant it.

“Yeah, that’s okay,” Tam replied, trying to push the darkness away and bask in the light.

In Keefe and Sophie’s arms, he felt slightly lighter.

——

Fitz didn’t get Sophie.

It wasn’t personal or anything, it really wasn’t. It was just little things about her that quelled his interest.

For one, when anyone made references to her being a girl, she cringed. Not enough to be extremely visible, but it still was noticeable. For another, her reaction to different locations. It almost was like how Biana reacted when she started her education at Foxfire. Both girls were in awe at the sights, but weren’t shocked. Fitz figured she must have seen the places from his memories. She also seemed more curious as to how things work than the fact that elves existed.

Little did Fitz know that the mysterious girl was actually a lot more different than his predictions made her to be.

—-

Keefe's dream was shared that night.

It was in Everglen, but he didn’t go to it today. So why was their shared dream there?

Keefe had started in front of the gates, in all of its shining glory.

A few moments later, he felt a pair of arms grab his shoulders. He didn’t even need to look up to know it was Sophie.

“Hi Sophie,” Keefe greeted, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Hi,” Sophie smiled, but it wasn’t like usual. It was the smiles from when Tam was at their worst, when they didn’t really get how Tam could feel so hopeless.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Tam greeted, limping towards them.

(Keefe wanted to curse the silver banged teen, but recognized that Tam might not have the proper medical care he needed available. It wasn’t unusual for the blondes to patch Tam up, since anything injured or healed in a shared dream is mirrored in the real world. They had been able to do this more often after Linh was informed of their bond, shortly after they were banished. From what Keefe could gather, she had taken it surprisingly well.)

“Nothing,” Sophie replied. “Pronouns?” they questioned, grabbing Tam’s hand and helping them sit on the ground.

“Xe,” Tam replied, wincing as Sophie removed xer shoes (xe must have slept in them.)."Also, you are totally hiding something, so fess up.”

Keefe saw Sophie’s face fall, and heard Tam’s quick reassurances that if they genuinely didn’t want to say anything they didn’t need to.

“No, you’re right, I’m hiding something,” Sophie confessed. “It’s kind of a big deal, and it could change the entire way you look at me and I'll Understand If Hatemepleasdon't,” Sophie rushed out, chest heaving as their hands trembled around Tam’s ankle. Tam started stroking their arms, trying to get them to calm down.

“Okay, so how familiar are you two on unnatural things?” Sophie asked.

“Pretty familiar,” Tam groaned, as Sophie tried moving her ankle.

“Okay,” Sophie took a deep breath, moving their hands away from Tam. Keefe scooted to be by them, just in case.

“I’m a telepath. I have been since I was five years old and I just met another telepath today, and it turns out I’m an elf. Please don’t hate me!” Sophie rambled, hands flailing as they tried to calm themselves. Keefe grabbed their shoulders and started soothing them, eventually calming Sophie enough to have this conversation. It’s at that moment Keefe realized something. He could feel Sophie and Tam’s emotions. He decided to put that thought to the back of his mind, instead calming the others down.

“Well, you’re not the only one who is hiding something,” Tam blushed, then Keefe felt a sharp cold on his back. All of the shadows were surrounding them, covering them. He’s a Shade. Tam was twisting and flicking his wrists in such a pattern Keefe couldn’t help but be awed.

“I’m a Shade,” Tam spat out, sending the shadows back to wherever they came from.

“I don’t have anything as cool, but I’m an Empath,” Keefe confessed, shame trying to peek through but pushed down quickly.

Sophie was wide-eyed, and questions were running a mile a minute, as she patched up Tam’s ankle the best they could.

(Keefe could still remember the first time that Tam hid an injury from them. There were cuts all over xe’s arm, not all of them unwilling. Sophie would cry for years after, as would Keefe. It was also a recurring nightmare, as were many others.)

“Do either of you know Fitz? He’s the one who introduced me,” Sophie wondered.

“Um, funny story. He’s my best friend,” Keefe chuckled. With that response, he was bombarded with interrogations

“Wait,” Sophie suddenly paused. “If it’s not too hard, can you tell me what happened that day in Atlantis?”

Tam sighed, which made Keefe think xe wasn’t going to tell the story. However, xe began.

“It was technically my fault what happened in Atlantis You know how there’s force fields around Atlantis? Well, I can break them or weaken them using my shadows. That day in Atlantis was also when I came out to Linh as gender fluid, so I was letting my emotions and instincts take control and I weakened the force fields. If I didn’t, then Linh couldn’t flood Atlantis. I’m sorry,” Tam whispered, the last bit so soft if Keefe wasn’t so close he might not have known. Tam was feeling powerful emotions, but the main one, which was a cause of concern, was guilt and shame.

“Hey, listen. Tammy, you’re not allowed to blame yourself for stuff that you don’t have control over. It won't help," Keefe comforted the silver-haired teen. Tam sniffed again, but nodded, xer movement jerky.

"Sophie, if you want, me and Keefe could try and explain things to you about the lost cities. I mean, maybe I'm not the best person, but I could help with the basics," Tam offered.

"That would be great. Like, do you either know Fitz? He's the elf who brought me to the lost cities, we're at his house right now," Sophie stated. Keefe couldn't help but snort at the fact his best friend outside of the two in front of him met his soulmate before he did.

"What?" Keefe questioned, "it's funny how Sophie met my best friend before they met me."

"Fitz is your best friend?" Sophie questioned.

"Yeah, it has been for a while. I mean, we're both kinda outcasts," Keefe chortled bitterly.

Then, Sophie started laughing, which made Tam and Keefe laugh, which made Keef think that would be okay.

---

Adjusting to the Lost Cities wasn't as hard as Sophie anticipated. It did have its ups and downs, though.

For one, the elves kept preaching about how amazing they were. However, Sophie knew some of the many unfair things that the elves did with no one calling them out. They knew about how they treated anyone who wasn’t up to their high standards, and didn’t care at all about anyone except a select few people.

There were a few good things though. For one, Sophie and Keefe finally met in real life, and it was just as hysterical as they imagined. Getting accused of ditching was always fun.

“I’m Keefe,” the blond boy, who had accused them of ditching, introduced himself.

“Sophie,” Sophie replied, then mentally slapped themselves. Of course this blonde, seemingly popular boy, would have heard of her.

“Do you have a sister named Amy?” Keefe suddenly blurted out, eyes widening. Sophie was shocked at his question. Surely this wasn’t the Keefe they dreamed shared with, right? Sophie sighed, realizing there was only one way to find out.

“Yeah. Is your soulmate a Shade named Tam?” They asked, preparing for a no.

“Yeah,” Keefe whispered, realization flooding his features.

The two stared at each other, until Keefe grabbed their hand.

“What happened?”

“Accident. Had Alchemy and burned Lady Galvin’s cape and my hand,” Sophie blushed.

“No way! I Wish I could have seen it!” Keefe cheered, until he realized he was making Sophie feel bad. He then took Sophie to the Healing Center, and refused to leave until they were let go by Elwin for their next session.

Sophie was also gaining other friends, like Dex, Biana, Fitz, and, yes, Keefe. It did hurt, however, to not have Tam with them and Keefe in real life. They had been dreamsharing less and less, but Sophie wasn’t too sure of why at the time. It wouldn’t be until later they realized that the nightmares and not sleeping would affect it all.

It seemed like the elves wanted the lost cities to be perfect. They were not successful. They had so many issues, from their treatment to the Talentless to the LGBT+ community. Keefe and Tam were not sugar coating anything when they told them issues that plagued, although they were holding back some information. Sophie didn't particularly care though, since they did tell them the truth, and not a filtered down version of the truth.

It was hard, but having people to rely on was good.

----

Tam was livid. Plain and simple.

She had just been informed that Sophie and Keefe went to the Black Swan (why did they still trust them, they had done nothing good?) for a chance to heal Sophie's abilities. Of course, it went as well as expected for a bunch of dumb idiots who thought abandoning two twelve year old in London was a good idea.

“Let me make sure I have this right. You two idiots decided to go to a random island, to a weird old guy who made Sophie take an ounce of limbium, which she is allergic to, to reset their abilities. Then you two were attacked and now you get to heal Alden’s mind?” Tam questioned, hands gesturing rapidly.

The soulmates were in Sophie’s room at Havenfield, with Tam on Sophie’s lap and Keefe next to them. During her rant, Tam wasn’t paying attention to her soulmate's feelings. Now, she realized that she might have gone too far. Tam started to apologize, but Sophie spoke up.“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault you’re super overprotective of us, especially because you only have Linh otherwise. We knew the risks, and I wanted to have my abilities fixed. Also, we both knew that the Black Swan might not be all bad,” they stated, running their fingers on Tam’s arm.

“I guess, but you are still idiots," Tam mumbled, curling into Sophie.

"Yeah, but isn't everyone?" Keefe pondered. Tam shrugged, her pride still a bit hurt.

"So are you going to heal Alden's mind?" Tam asked.

"I guess," Sophie mumbled,"the council wants me to."

Tam was still mad at these two idiots, but hearing the crack in Sophie's voice made her a bit less mad, and she decided to comfort them first then deal with her anger at them later.

----

(Dex Finds Out About Keefe Being Trans)

Dex was completely and utterly baffled at the situation before him. It wasn’t the situation itself that confused him, but the fact he had gone through it twice.

Dex had gone into Keefe’s changing area during physical education to check up on him. While Dex wasn’t entirely sure what Keefe and Sophie’s relationship was, he knew having Sophie wear an ability restrictor definitely affected Keefe somehow.

However, when Dex walked into Keefe’s changing room, the only thing he could do was shut the door and stare at Keefe.

Around Keefe’s chest were layers of bandages, tightly wrapped. While it might have been an injury, Dex was sure someone would have told him Keefe was injured.

Dex was reminded of an incident when he was younger, with Rex in Keefe’s position. The technopath decided to try the same approach this time.

"Wanna tell me what's going on, or what?" Dex tried to joke, but he really wasn't the jockey type with something this serious.

Keefe slammed his shoulder into his mirror, breath erratic. His eyes were panicked, and Dex had a bad feeling that he was one of the few people in Keefe’s life who wouldn’t hate him.

“No, thank you,” was the cold reply Dex got. It was an out of character move for Keefe that Dex didn’t realize the other elf had put his shirt on.

“Okay, fine. You’re not going to answer my questions verbally. How about I give you yes and no questions, and you just have to nod your head? Sounds good to you?” Dex hopes that the prospect of not needing to talk would convince Keefe to answer more honestly.

Keefe hesitated, but eventually nodded. Dex hopes they won’t be noticed for being late.

“Have you done this before?” A nod.

“More than a year?” Another nod. Shot.

“Do you always do this?” Nod.

“Even while sleeping?” Dex whispered. Thankfully, Keefe shook his head.

Dex took a deep brea and asked the question he knew Keefe was dreading

“Are you a moon child?” Keefe didn’t move for so long, Dex almost repeated himself. However, Keefe nodded, but it was as though he was weighed down by a bag of rocks. Tears fell from Keefe’s eyes, but the other boy made no movement to remedy that. The blonde’s chest heaved, as he tried to keep his sobs silent.

(Dex cursed whoever it was that forced Keefe, his soulmate's best friend, to learn how to keep quiet when he was in pain.)

Dex hesitated, but walked towards Keefe, taking him into his arms. He felt Keefe tense, but slowly relaxed. His breathing even out, as did his sobs.

“‘m sorry,” was the first words Keefe spoke in ancient times. Dex was surprised no one came to find them. “Don’t tell anyone. You and Sophie are my only friends who know.”

Dex was shocked. It wasn’t just at the fact that Keefe thought Dex truly hated him that much to out him, but the fact that he also considered Dex his friend. Keefe always was teasing him and pranking him.

“Is that why you are always pranking me? Because we’re friends?” Dex asked, pulling away. Keefe’s cheeks turned pink, but nodded softly.

Dex laughed, and gave the other boy another hug, then realized something.

“Why does Sophie know?” In response to that, Keefe backed up against the sink, and shook his head.

“It’s personal, isn’t it?” A nod. That made sense actually. If it was personal to either Sophie or Keefe, of course they wouldn’t share it without the others permission.

Eventually, a knock was heard from the door.

“Okay, listen, I get you two are in love with each other, but session is over. Get out,” came the smooth accent from Fitz Vacker.

“Fiiine,” Keefe sang-singed, pulling his shirt back on.

They exchanged one last glance, and left.

------

(The gang is at Alluvetere (The common room in the boys' treehouse is decorated like a campsite, complete with indoor trees, a ceiling glittering with stars, and an enormous fire pit in the center with flames that burn in every color of the rainbow along with a few boulder shaped bean bags.))

Keefe was scared and he wasn't afraid to admit it. After all, he had come out of tricker situations.

Of course, none of them involved him going on the run into the forbidden cities cause his soulmate did something completely unforgivable in the eyes of the public.

He didn’t blame Sophie, it was just that he wished they didn’t have to deal with all the stuff that they had to.

Of course, it wasn’t like Keefe didn’t also have some emotional trauma from his mom being evil. That would be fun to unpack whenever the next shared dream may be.

Currently, he was in the treehouse he was supposed to share with Dex and Fitz. Keefe silently thanked whoever gave him the luck to not be in the girls’ treehouse.

“This is so cool!” Dex cried, circling around the fire. “You guys never had to live with my siblings. It. Was. Torture,” Dex singsonged. He was leaning on the bean bag, his head tilted back.

“Hey, I call shower first,” Keefe yelled, walking towards the bathroom door. He got an affirmation from both Dex and Fitz that it was okay as he walked into the door.

Keefe leaned against the door, taking a deep breath. Or, as deep of a breath as possible. His chest ached, from the tight bandages around it. Keefe knew it wasn’t safe to wear any sort of binders for more than 8 hours, but he couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk having Fitz find out. It was bad enough Dex knew. If anyone else found out, Keefe thought he would die.

The empath covered up the mirror and turned off the lights. He had dealt with this enough to know that the inability to see himself would make the whole situation that much more bearable.

Quickly taking a shower, Keefe walked towards the trees. He was debating on whether or not forcing someone to cut his hair would be worthwhile.

He then paused, almost falling backwards. What was in front of him made his cheeks tingle.

Dex was kneeling on Fitz’s lap, and he was sobbing into the teal-eyed boy's shoulder.

Keefe backed away, wary of the branches.

It wasn’t his business. They probably were going to tell him in their own time, and Keefe wasn't going to pressure them.

------

(Sophie freaks out to Tam And Keefe about becoming Cognates)

When Sophie was given the reveriebells by Calla, she was dishearted at the idea that they wouldn't get to dream share that night. While they had stayed up all through the night before, they tried to avoid it at all times.

Thankfully, the reveriebells didn’t affect their ability to dream share.

This particular dream was in Alluevetere, and Sophie was on top of the table in the communal dining room.

“Will you read it?” came a voice from behind her, accompanied with footsteps. Sophie turned around, and felt her heart quickened.

Tam was currently getting a piggyback ride from Keefe; with Tam in his Exilium uniform and Keefe in a red version of her green fuzzy onesie.

“Why?” was Keefe’s reply to Tam’s begging.

“Cause you’re sooo good at it,” replied Tam, a grin on his face. The Shade then leaped off of Keefe’s back and climbed onto the table with Sophie.

“Hi, Sophie. Xe,” Tam whispered into their shoulder, as xers arms wrapped around Sophie. Sophie felt relaxed for the first time all day. Tam and Keefe’s hugs were the only ones they could stand for more than a few seconds. They had this way of hugging Sophie around their shoulders and slightly squeezing to make them feel secure but not surrounded. Most other beings struggled with that.

“Temperature on the feelings thermometer?” Sophie asked, gently pulling away from Tam. They sat down on the table, and guided Tam to lay on her lap.

The feeling thermometer was a technique Sophie’s old councilor used with Sophie. She had a picture on her wall of a thermometer, and every time Sophie was in her office, the first thing she asked was their temperature on the feelings thermometer. One was the best mood ever and ten meant Sophie was going to boil over.

While Sophie disliked their councilor, they could acknowledge that the feelings thermometer, while cheesy, was a good idea. It was specially helpful for when one of the trio was nonverbal, or on the verge of collapse.

”I’m a 5,” Tam mumbled, grabbing Sophie’s hand. They rolled their eyes, realizing that they wanted to be petted. This wasn’t an unusual request from Tam, as well as other touches. While xe apparently wasn’t as touchy during the day, xe was during the dreams. Sophie’s heart warmed at the idea Tam trusted Keefe and Sophie enough to relax.

“Can we do anything to help?” came Keefe’s voice, startling the other two.

“No, but maybe you can help yourselves by asking whatever you’re not,” Tam replied, pulling xer head onto Sophie’s shoulder.

Sophie felt their faces heat up. Keefe gave her a glance, one that comforted Sophie more than they wanted to reveal.

“Fitz and I are cognates,” Sophie blurted out. “I mean, the Black Swan said we could try training to become Cognates.”

Tam’s eyes widened as he wrapped xemself around Sophie.

“Do you want to be Cognates? It requires you sharing everything with each other,” Tam reminded Sophie, as xe kneeled in their lap, arms wrapped around their neck.

Shoulders shuddering, Sophie replied,”I know. I want to be Cognates with Fitz, but I wanted to check if you two think it’s a good idea.”

Keefe spoke up,” I am game. It’s just that one of us needs to tell Fitz about us being soulmates.”

Tam threw in xer two cents,”Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Also, he will know about all of us being moon children and our childhoods. Are you sure that’s okay with you Keefe? Because I want Sophie to have this opportunity but if you think it wouldn’t work say something.”

Keefe looked conflicted. “It just that we never get to talk about a lot of issues from our childhood, so Fitz might get the wrong idea about what happened.”

That was a good point, A very good point. Sophie loathed to admit it, but their soulmates had a point.

“So why don’t we talk about it?” Let everything out,” Sophie suggested, not expecting to be taken seriously. To Sophie’s surprise Keefe and Tam nodded.

“Okay, but how?” Tam asked, pulling Keefe to sit next to Sophie. Xe then laid down on their laps. Xer hair was by Keefe, who took the opportunity to play with it.

“How about we ask each other questions?”Sophie replied, mentally coming up with as many questions as possible.

“Can I ask first?” Tam requested, cuddling closer to them. After getting a confirmation, xe took a few moments to presumably deliberate xer question..

“Okay. Got it. What scares you the most?”Tam’s voice trembled.

Sophie had to think about that one, truly thinking about it.

“Trusting my mom again. It’s dumb, but sometimes I miss her,” Keefe whispered, looking at Tam’s side. It was abundantly clear he was ashamed of it. Sophie grabbed the blond’s chin and forced him to look them in the eyes.

“I know it’s a lot to deal with, and I know it’s scary to think that she might make you trust her again. But you are stronger than her. The fact you love her means that you aren’t all bad, okay? It just means your emotions haven’t settled down about it. But you are not your parents. You’re so much more than they will ever be,”Sophie reassured Keefe. It was clear their words hadn’t penetrated through the hard shell Keefe put up, but Sophie was determined if nothing else. They made it a goal: reassure Keefe he is not his parents. It would take a significant amount of work, but Sophie was nothing but determined.

“What about you, Soph?” Tam asked, voice muffled by Keefe’s pant leg.

Sophie felt their heart race, as they tried to figure out something to say.

“We won’t hurt you,” came a voice in her ear. “We’re not the Black Swan.”

Sophie forced their breath to slow down, and reached to pull an eyelash out. Keefe grabbed their hand, and he held it tight. That was something they were trying out, to see if it helped with the eyelash pulling. So far, it had not.

“My greatest fear is of sleeping.” Sophie’s voice was so soft they weren’t sure if they actually spoke out loud.

Tam had pulled xemselves up from their laps, and gave Sophie a hug.

“Why?” was the question. It was said in such a way that it didn’t demand to be answered.

“Because, because every time I try to sleep, except for this-“ Sophie gestured around-“I have nightmares. And I refuse to take Sedatives, I spent enough of my life drugged up.”

“That’s fair,” Keefe responded his hands threading Sophie’s hair. “What about you,Tam?”

Tam’s face paled, and he bit his lip.

“It’s...dumb. I’m scared of adults, but especially authority figures,” the Shade stammered out. Sophie felt xer hands grip theirs.

“Is this something to do with being banished?” Keefe asked. Tam nodded, and xe tugged xer bangs.

“When we were banished, the doctor... touched me somewhere I didn’t want to be touched. I felt so icky that I still have nightmares.” Tam was visibly trembling at this point, and furiously trying to wipe xer tears away.

Sophie scooped up the Shade into their lap, and they made sure Sophie could look into xer eyes.

“As long as I have breath in my body, I will never hurt you.” Sophie’s words were punctuated by a squeeze from Keefe, who was surprisingly quiet.

“Can I ask the next question?” Keefe asked, hands twisting.

“Of course,” Sophie responded.

All of a sudden, a voice yelled.

“Tam, wake up. We’re going to be late!” a high voice yelled.

Tam blushed, pushing xemslf off of Sophie’s lap.

“That’s Linh, it’s time for Exilium to start,” xe explained, running off into the distance.

Sophie closed their eyes , bracing themself for the inevitable nausea that came from ending a shared dream before it naturally ended.

When Sophie woke, they forced their tears to fall silently.

——

(Cognate training. Fitz finds out about Sokam)

Fitz had to admit he thought Sophie would be more excited for Cognate training. After all, it was an amazing opportunity and they would have an even better chance of beating the Neverseen.

Of course, her unenthusiastic response might have been caused by everything she must be going through. She had the stress of being a member of the Black Swan, Keefe, and a lot of other things. She also probably recently started dreamsharing. Fitz knew that when you started dreamsharing it could feel a bit embarrassing admitting who you’re dreamsharing with. Especially if your families didn’t get along.

Like me and Dex.

Fitz had to admire how collected she was in the face of all this stress.

The young telepath shook his head, for he was suppose to focus on the Cognate trust exercise Sophie and him were supposed to be doing.

Fitz looked at the list of questions that Granite gave them. He seemed very conflicted about giving it to them but eventually gave it. It was a short list, with only two questions. Both pertained to soulmates, and that was a topic they had never discussed before.

Fitz asked Sophie for permission to enter her mind which she allowed. There was more resistance to his entering than usual, but it was brushed off as a side effects of nerves.Although, they had been doing this for a while so Fitz wasn’t entirely sure why she was nervous.

“Do you want to ask first or should I?” Fitz asked with the respect he knew Sophie deserved. Even before he had started dreamsharing with Dex, Fitz always tried to give Sophie a good deal of respect.

“You ask first.”

“If you have started dreamsharing, describe your soulmates.”

Fitz felt a surge of panic flow from Sophie, and was about to call off the question. It wasn’t like he was completely thrilled about this question either.

“Fitz, I need to tell you something. And I need you to not freak out,” Sophie begged.

Fitz assured her that he wouldn’t freak out. The panic Sophie was feeling ebb and flowed as she gathered her thoughts. Fitz gave her time.

“I’ve been dreamsharing since I was eight years old. And I have two soulmates. One is attending Exilium and the other one is Keefe.”

Fitz wouldn’t lie. He was not expecting that.

He also wasn’t as mad as most people expected. There had been some theories bouncing around regarding Keefe and Sophie’s relationship.

“If it makes you feel any better, my soulmate is Dex.”

“Are you freaking joking?” Sophie yelled, as her emotions became much more positive.

“Nope. Are you?” Fitz shot back.

“Unfortunately no,” Sophie stated. Then, she proceeded to read the next question,”What’s one thing only your soulmate knows?”

Fitz felt his insides squirm as the image of bruises on his shoulders as Dex tried to help him arose.

“Wow,” was the only thing Sophie said, as she pushed energy towards Fitz.

An image of a younger Sophie and two boys formed. Sophie was handing the two boys bracelets. One bracelet was blue, pink, and white while the other was (insert colors of gender fluid flag). Sophie has a similar bracelet, but it was in (non-binary pride colors)

“What are you guys doing?” Fitz asked softly, as the levels of panic ebbed and flowed.

“Humans have this thing called Pride, where they honor the lgbt community. The bracelets were in the pride flags for our gender identity,” Sophie explained, although she was incredibly anxious.

“What is the lgbt community? And what are gender identities?” Fitz questioned, for his curiosity was peaked.

“Gender identities...they’re basically are what gender you identify as. For example, if you might have parts that are assigned female at birth but feels like a boy. That’s called being transgender, trans for short. Or someone doesn’t feel like a boy or a girl, and that’s non-binary. It’s massively more complicated, cause there’s genderfluid, agender, demigender, bigender,, and a lot more, but that’s a crash course, "Sophie explained.

“So it’s like being a moon child? Are you one too?”

”It’s kind of being a moon child, I guess. And yeah I am a moon child. Nonbinary specifically, and I use they/them pronouns. Are you going to blow up now?” Sophie got incredibly defensive at that last part.

“No, no, no I’m not going to hate you. If you want me to I won’t say anything,” Fitz promised. Sophie calmed down at that and exited his mind.

“Thanks Fitz,” she told him. “Just know if you hurt Dex I can and will prank you to the max.”

“I expect that and will reciprocate if you do anything to harm Keefe,” Fitz promised, and he walked back towards the boys treehouse.

He had a lot to think about.

Fitz walked towards his mom's room. He should definitely tell her about this. Maybe she could help Fitz with coming to terms with this.

Della promised to tell Forkle, and thank Fitz for telling her.

——

(Keefe with fathomlethe)

Keefe couldn’t keep up with the influx of thoughts coming into his head. His hand was sore from all of the writing, but he forced himself to keep going.

Keefe didn’t know how long it had been since he took the fathomlethe, but he knew it had been days. Days since he left the room he was undeserving of for more than meals. Days since he had seen the walls of said room.

Keefe knew he should leave. Leave the madness of everything, and allow himself to recuperate. But he couldn’t allow himself to. To do so would be admitting weaknesses he tried to hide.

A harsh knock startled Keefe.

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” a voice yelled. A voice Keefe was so painfully familiar with it hurts. Sophie Foster.

Keefe rose up on unsteady feet and made his way to the door. Sophie ducked under him, and froze.

Keefe wished that he didn’t know why they froze. The reality of the situation was that his room was like Tam and Linh’s room at their parents house only this was slightly more disturbing. There was notes with questions everywhere not drawings. He also had very little belongings scattered around, unlike Fitz and Dex, so that just made the room even more impersonal.

“So...wanna tell me anything?” Sophie asked, their voice so even, if it weren’t for the unease flowing off of them, Keefe would have been fooled into believing they weren’t disturbed by this.

Keefe mumbled,”I got a surge from the fathomlethe, but almost everything was me just fooling around.” Sophie nodded, and they walked towards one of the walls, and Keefe had to restrain himself from yanking them away.

“It’s a lot to go through. Photographic memory and all,” Keefe stated, even though it was super obvious, because he needed to fill the space. Sophie, thankfully, didn’t comment but just kept looking. They were so furious but determined at once Keefe couldn’t keep his eyes off them. He was about to tell Sophie that he wouldn’t be made if they left when they spoke up.

“Can I help?”

Keefe couldn’t help the warm feeling that shot through his heart. But he had to shake his head.

“I don’t know how. It’s my memories, and you got a sanitized version of my childhood,” Keefe replied.

“So? I’m a telepath. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use a memory log so it is all in one place? Not that scraps of paper with scattered ideas don’t have their benefit,” Sophie countered. That was a good idea.

Unfortunately.

Keefe shook his head, but Sophie wasn’t having that.

They pulled Keefe into their lap, and whispered,”Let me help you.”

“I can’t. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“You know, that’s what I used to say. Until someone forced me to include them,” Sophie teased, but it had a glint to it that removed any bitterness in Keefe. Keefe breathed in trusting that it will be okay for a moment.

“Sounds like a genius? Are they shockingly good looking even with dumb bangs?” Keefe asked. He knew that Sophie liked Tam more, but he would take what he could get.

“No, but he is good looking but also pretty stupid. I’m talking about you, Keefe,” Sophie gave him a confused look.

“Why?”

“Because you were there for me when I had to heal my abilities, and when I was going to kill myself about Alden. You and Tam are so important, and I am trying so hard to get to Tam. But I want to help you. May I?”

Keefe couldn’t help it, and a sob forced itself between his lips. A broken cry escaped his lips.

“Please. Don’t. My head is not in an awesome place right now,” Keefe admitted. Shame filled up in his head, but he knew that it needed to be said.

“So? I’m used to not great minds. Remember all the times I had to go through broken minds? And Lady Galvin?” Sophie tried to convince him. They pointedly did not mention King Dimitar.

“Great, I have a mind like a psycho.”

“I’m saying you can’t surprise me.”

Keefe distantly felt him being put down, and Sophie got up to look at the wall. His chin was suddenly tilted up. Sophie was holding a piece of paper, and on it was Who am I. “Easy question. You’re Keefe Sencen. Prankster extraordinaire. Master of mischief. The elf embodiment of Hermès. The best boy a non-binary and gender fluid messes could ask for.” The statement was said was with so much conviction that Keefe felt compelled to believe with and let down the weight on his shoulders. “You and Tam are not messes,” Keefe protested as he was hauled up to his feet. He couldn’t stay upright by himself , however, so he collapsed onto Sophie. “I don’t know about that, but I do know that you need to sleep,” they chided, as they guided him to bed. “I don’t know if I can,” Keefe whispered. Sophie nodded, and silently made their way around the room tearing paper down. Keefe took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

Maybe it won’t turn out okay, but he wanted to be the best soulmate he could before his time ran up.

-----

(Tam realizes Sophie and Keefe are at Exilium) Tam had a feeling about this day. It wasn’t clear if it was good or bad. The last time xe had felt this was when the plague struck. The day had started with Tam shaking Linh awake. Xe normally didn’t need to go wake xer twin, but today she had been dreamsharing with her soulmate, Biana, so she slept in. Thankfully, they were able to get to Exilium in time, but they couldn’t even get to the torture because of there being a Dividing for five kids. Five. How they managed to get five kids at once was a question in its own right. It was a standard Dividing test, albeit with five people, for Tam at first. It only got weird when one of them talked. It sounded exactly like Keefe. The Keefe voiced one fell down with his pants still attached to the rope along with his boot. He took it such good stride Tam felt like he was hallucinating. Another one fell, and then one shouted. “It’s Biana,” Linh whispered, her voice trembling. She sounded so sure of herself Tam had to believe her. Another one got free by backflipping and went to help the last one. When the last one spoke, Tam felt xer breathing freeze. That was Sophie Foster. Xe would bet his birth fund on it. “I think our soulmates are here,” Tam shadow whispered to Linh.She was trembling so much she looked like she would pass out, but she gave a shaky nod. “Why didn’t Biana tell me?” Linh questioned, through the shadows. “I don’t know.” There was a fire raging in front of them, and the last one, presumably Sophie, was in the center. “Oh, no you don’t,” Linh whispered out loud as she flung her hands up. Water flowed according to her directions, and it formed a bundle of protection around Sophie. Gently setting Sophie down, Linh grasped Tam’s arm. Xe couldn’t blame her. If it weren’t for the fact xe had to be brave xe would have been grabbing her arm first.

Two of the five were led away to the healing tent while the twins and everyone else were to stay standing.

------

(Keefe, he is taken to meet Linh and Tam for the first time)

Tam couldn’t believe Linh and his soulmates had been at Exilium for over a week. He had believed that they would have managed to get out of it either by willingly leaving or being ejected. He had hoped not, for even though it was grueling work for them they were still there.

Tam knew that today was going to be a bad day as soon as he saw the tents and lake.

Gently, he broke the news to Linh, and she took it better than expected. She just nodded and shakily went to go change. Coming out of the tents, the twins walked over to the water. This time…wasn’t as bad as usual. Nothing had been destroyed, at least, like last time.

Of course, it was still bad. Linh could barely tolerate being even sitting in the water and still having the ability to breathe. Putting her face in the water was to much.

Tam had no idea how long it was until Sophie reached out to them. Their offer to help Linh made Tam internally laugh. The obliviousness needed to not realize you are literally talking to your soulmate was hilarious.

Eventually, Tam felt himself being lifted up from the water, and the coach shouting there was a new record. Tam helped a shaky Linh out of the water as he worked up the nerve to ask her a request.'

“Whatever it is, spit it out,” Linh admonished.

“If I was to ask Sophie to come to Wildwood with us, would that be okay?” Tam shadowed whispered. He couldn’t say why them and not Keefe or Biana, but he knew it wasn’t be the right choice.

“Okay,” Linh replied with no hesitation. Her easy response made Tam want to melt into a pile of happiness. He restrained himself though, for it would not be proper for him to fall apart before asking a pivotal question.

When Tam asked Sophie if they wanted to come with the twins, he didn’t believe they would. Just goes to show how nice they were. Foot steps came from behind him, and there was a figure behind him. “Are you taking Sophie with you?” the figure asked. Tam’s breath caught . That was Keefe.

Linh nodded, as she stepped up. “Yes. You can come with us,” she whispered as she grabbed Keefe’s hand.

Sophie came running up to them. Tam grabbed Sophie and Keefe’s shaking hands, as he whispered, "Are you sure you’re ready?” He felt their hands still. “As we’ll ever be,” Sophie whisper back. Linh held up the leaping crystal that had been theirs for so little time, but it felt like eternity. Stumbling as they landed, Tam guided Linh away as Keefe and Sophie reoriented themselves.

“Where are we?" Sophie asked. "Introductions first," Tam stated, pulling off his mask and lowering his hood. Shaking his head, Tam waited for Sophie, Keefe, and Linh to do the same.

"Are you Tam Song?" Keefe blurted out, and shock filled his features. Tam smirked as he stalked up to the blondes. "Maybe. Shouldn't you know? You are supposedly his soulmate," Linh shot back as she walked up to them again.

"In our defense, Tam never mentioned he was in Exillium. Although we probably should have guessed from the fact you always wore the same thing all the time," Keefe tried to defend him and Sophie, but he was so pathetic Tam took pity on him.

"And before you ak, yes, this is where me and Linh stay. Don't blame yourselves for not doing something about it. I never could tell you because then we would have been woken up and we couldn't talk about it," Tam stated. He knew his soulmates. They tried to take the task of everyone being safe, healthy, and happy very seriously. "It used to be beautiful. We felt so lucky to find it. But that was before the gnomes fell ill," Linh whispered, twisting her hands so hard Tam thought they would break.

"This was the wildwood colony, wasn't it?" Keefe asked, his voice so soft that Tam wanted to scream at him to be quieter. "Yeah. It was nice when they were here. They brought us dinner everynight and I fell asleep to their songs," Linh whispered as she brushed a vine. "Do you two know what happened to them?" "They're in quarantine and alive," was all that Keefe offered. "Were you two the teenagers they found footprints of?"

"Who's they?" Tam questioned, eyes instinctively narrowing. He couldn't truly allow his guard down even if he trusted everyone here. "The council. They're investigating after the frst gnomes came to at Lumeneria."

“Well, they didn’t do a good job at it. They just poked around a bit and left. They didn’t even ask us about the lights,” Tam shrugged. “We’ve been seeing white flecks for a while now, before the plague. They come from across the border, so investigations are hard to do.” “The ogres? Like in Ravagog?” Keefe questioned. He looked pained, and Tam had to fight the urge to wrap him and Sophie in a hug so tight they’ll never get free from it.

“Yes. The pass to it is through there,” Linh stated, pointing towards the mountains.

“Do you think the lights are connected to the plague?” Sophie asked. Tam was surprised at how openly curious they were being. Tam figures Sophie tried to hide her curiosity from others usually. “Maybe. We don’t know,” Linh replied. “Are you always this curious?”

“Is that a bad thing?” Sophie questioned, getting defensive. “Maybe. You’re trying to help the gnomes though so I can’t say. Kind of like you helped me. You must think I am so dumb, by the way. I’m a hydrokinetic afraid of drowning.”

“Abilities don’t mean everything,” Sophie started sagely. “Says the one with four abilities. How exactly did you guys get banished?” Linh questioned. Her voice sounded perfectly neutral. Tam knew how confused she was, however. She still was his twin, after all.

Keefe shrugged. “We finally gave the council a good reason to.” “Did Tam tell you why we’re banished?”

“Kind of. He told us that everyone blamed you for flooding Atlantis, but it was really him destroying the force fields,” Sophie explained. They were fidgeting with their uniform. Linh raised an eyebrow, and she leaned back. “I’m impressed you three trust each other enough to-“ Suddenly, the branches bristled making them all freeze. It was just the wind, though. “This way,” Linh grabbed Tam’s wrist and she led them towards the river.

Grabbing the quilt they had made, the twins settled down on it. So did Sophie and Keefe. “I’m sorry,” Keefe rushes out. “I’m sorry for not realizing how bad it was for you two. I’m sorry for not getting help for you two. I’m so sorry.” By the end of his confession, Keefe looked like he was on the verge of tears.

“Why? You two didn’t do anything wrong. I couldn’t tell you about how bad it is, for if I did then we might not have dreamshared again for weeks, maybe over a month. You two know how much we tried to tell each other, but it doesn’t ever work. I can’t blame you guys cause I made sure to not tell you anything.” By the end of his triad, Tam felt Linh gripping his arm, but he forced it off.

“Tam,” -Linh gripped his arm even tighter this time-“Are you sure you are okay? Can you trust them?” Tam knew she was only trying to help, so he pushed his anger down.

“I know I can. If you don’t trust them, I’ll read their shadow vapor again,” Tam reassured Linh, but something in him revolted the idea that he had to do that again. Last time, it did not go well. Keefe seemed to remember the same particular accident if the way he paled was any indication.

“If you have to check our shadow vapor, I give you permission to do so,” Sophie stated, fierce authority in their voice. Back straightened, they reminded Tam of when he first met Sophie. They were loud and grabbed his hands despite how scared they were.

“Okay,” Tam whispered. He raised his hands and forced the shadows through their minds. Surprisingly, neither of them reacted as terribly as before. The results were also the same. “Now, you two need to know what I’m about to tell you is treason. If you want to leave, I won’t be offended,” Tam explained.

““When the Council was here gathering samples, they didn’t think I could hear them. But I used my shadow to carry my consciousness to where they were working. I couldn’t tell which Councilors it was—only that it was a male and a female. And the female Councilor said, ‘We should’ve warned them this could happen.’ Then the guy said, ‘No one can know.”

Tam braced himself for the yelling and the tears, but he did not expect a single gasp.

“How could they?” was the only thing Sophie said. “If the Council knew what was going to happen, why didn’t they say anything?” “We all know the Council is good at cover ups. They didn’t even try to make sure all the banished kids would be safe. They don’t care,” Tam growled. “Because they don’t care, no one else will either.” It was a sad but true thing in the world that they all were aware of.

“Doesn’t this violate the treaty with the gnomes? The Council is supposed to protect them, but they are just hurting them by withholding information,” Keefe stated wisely.

Tam had no happy response to that. Keefe was unfortunately right. The Council was not the perfect leader and never will be. “Is there anything else we need to say to each other?” Linh asked, perfectly poised.

“Linh? Can you move like four meters that way?” Tam whispered as he gestured towards the trees. He couldn’t risk her stopping him or his soulmates during this next part. Linh looked apprehensive, but she quickly made her way towards the trees.

Tam forced xemself to take a deep breath and wipe xer hand on xer pant leg. This was the moment of truth. “Hey guys. Nice to meet ya in person,” Tam chuckled awkwardly. Sophie let out a soft squeal as their eyes widened. (Tam still remembers how bad they felt about not having blue eyes.) “There’s the elf we love,” Keefe teased. “Hug?” Tam grinned softly as xe moved closer, and allowed Keefe to wrap his arms around xem.

This. This was good. Xe didn’t know how long it had been since xe felt this secure in the real world since xe been banished. “Your feelings are all wiggly,”Keefe mumbled, and he just squeezed Tam tighter. Tam felt xer soul soar. It had the softness he expected to have when the soulmates met in real life.

Tam felt fingers running through xer hair, and xe just let them. “Are you okay?” Sophie asked. Their voice was filled with concern for xem, and Tam could find it in xem to care. “I’m okay. Just tired,” Tam admitted.

“I bet. I can feel it rolling off of you like waves,” Keefe stated. The trio sat like that for a few moments, for they just wanted to gather their thoughts. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you,” Sophie started, but was shushed by Tam.

“Don’t. It’s not your fault. Shadows change how your voice sounds, and you can't see my face. That’s out of control.” Tam let that sink in for a moment. Xe knew both of xer soulmates were stubborn when it came to forgiving themselves. Tam then started to maneuver xemself out of Keefe’s and into Sophie’s.

“This is nice,” they gasped. “You’re so warm?” Tam had to chuckle at that comment. “Yeah, I am. So are you two.” “Are you and Linh going to be okay if we leave?” Keefe awkwardly asked. Tam knew he noticed the setting sun and how the elves they were staying with would be worried. “Yeah. Go,” Tam nudged xemself off Sophie as they got up. “Do you need a cliff?”

Sophie shook their heads as they held up a crystal. “We’re good.” “I guess this is goodbye.” Keefe looked detested as he uttered those words. “No It’s just a see you later,” Tam amended. It had to be, was unspoken.

Sophie grabbed Keefe’s hand and leapt away. Tam tried to ignore how xer heart fell. —— Linh liked to think she was a pretty serene person in most cases. This was not one of those cases.

“You met your soulmates!” she cheered. Tam was blushing so bad that she chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, keep it down,” Tam chuckled as Tam scooped Linh into a hug. “Xe.”

Linh nodded as she backed up. “How do you feel?” “Kind of overwhelmed. But not bad,” Tam nodded. “How do you approve of my soulmates?” If one didn’t know Tam as well as Linh did, they would have thought that xe were being snarky. However, Linh knew that xe were just really nervous.

“I like them. Are they scared of me because I’m your sister or because of what I have done?” Linh inquired.

“They were probably terrified of the idea you would disapprove of us being soulmates.”

“Probably?”

“We had a lot on our minds!” Tam defended xemself as xe put xer hands in the air.

“Fair point. Next time you see them, ask,” Linh conceded. She wasn’t honestly that disappointed, for she thought that if she met Biana she wouldn’t bother asking if she liked her brother.

“They were blaming themselves for not recognizing me,” Tam stated after a period of silence. “Oh?”

”Yeah. It’s not really their fault because they know my face better than my voice,” Tam elaborated. There was a clear defensive tone to it as xe waved xer hand frantically.

“Tam. I’m not going to blame them for not recognizing you. That’s not fair to anyone,” Linh reassured. “Now tell me. Did y’all do anything?” Tam’s blush simultaneously made Linh feel both bad and giddy. It was always fun to find new ways to embarrass Tam. Tam replied,”No. They traded me between their laps, but then they had to go back.”

Linh shook her head, and she grabbed Tam’s hand to drag him back to the tree they called home. Maybe someday she would be able to meet Biana. --— (Forkle, meeting Linh and Tam/Confronting Sophie about it) Forkle couldn’t help but be wary of taking the moonlark and her friends to meet two banished twins. He had done significant research, but he took all of his findings with a grain of salt.

Walking into the forest, Forkle did not expect a boy running out of some trees behind a river and commanding shadows to come out. “STOP!” he shouted as the shadows gathered around him. “We won’t hurt you,” Keefe stated as he strode up to the front. “They’re with me and Foster.”

The Shade flicked his wrist, which sent the shadows across the river, as he growled,”I didn’t say you could bring people here.” Forkle took a deep breath as he realized that there needed to be some damage control done.

“There is no need for your darkness tricks, child,” Forkle tried to calm the Shade down. “We just want to talk.” “These are not tricks,” the Shade responded. “Unlike your disguise .” The last part was said in such a scoffing tone that Forkle felt almost a bit offended. However, he could understand where the Shade was coming from. The council was not kind to the poor children.

“Anyway, it’s not like anyone besides blondies over there are getting by without reading,” he declared. “Um, what?” the Vacker boy cried out. (Fitz was his name. It’s Fitz.) “Don’t worry, Fitzroy. It doesn’t hurt. It’s really cold but not painful,” the Sencen boy soothed. “Well, even if my brother is being a baby, you can do your reading on me,” the Vacker girl declared as she stepped closer to the Shade. A foolhardy move, Forkle mused, but a sign of a leader. However, he needed to get this meeting back on track.

“If you must, Mr.Song-“ Forkle started out, but he was cut off once again. “How do you know that name?”

Forkle massaged his temples as he wished for lightning to strike him. It would make his life significantly less complicated.

“You’re not the only one who likes to make sure they can trust someone before talking with them. I know that your sister was banished after flooding Atlantis by accident. A foolish choice on your parents' part.” Forkle tried to refrain from calling others foolish, but the Song parents were an exception. They were idiots through and through. “What do you mean, foolish?” the Shade questioned, as he tensed up. While he wasn’t obvious, there was fear radiating off of him.

“To bring a fledging Hydrokinetic to Atlantis and expecting it to not be flooded is as bad as bringing a guster to a hurricane and expecting them to leave the wind alone. No one sensible would. It is also to my understanding clear that your father had no love for the fact you two were twins?” Forkle knew that his facts were straight, but he wanted to learn the child’s opinion on the matter.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to say. He simply muttered, "If the pretending that Linh is older than me doesn’t say something, I don’t know what will.”

Forkle nodded, trying to seem wise, and decided to try and speed the meeting along a bit. While they weren’t pressed on time, he needed to gain some more control over the situation. “If you don’t mind, where is your sister?” Forkle was truly more interested in the girl than her brother. While they were both incredibly powerful, it didn’t mean anything if they weren’t willing to work with him.

Suddenly, the shadows around the trees shifted slightly to reveal the Hydrokenetic.. Interesting. It seemed the boy had enough skill to preform some of the more advance Shade skills. Most Shades took a few decades to achieve that much control.

The Vacker girl made a comment on ‘how cool’ that was, but Forkle ignored her in favor of examining the Song girl. She seemed slightly more fed then her brother, but she still looked malnourished. Her hair was longer than either of the other girls, but she seemed like it was not well taken care of. The same could be said of her uniform. It wasn’t as nice of quality as the others, but it still looked presentable.

She shyly introduced herself as Linh, and Forkle was glad he refrained from calling the Shade any sort of first name. He had known that the girl’s name was Linh, but not her brother’s. Now he knew that it was Tam.

“So, who exactly are you guys? And what do you want?” Tam demanded. He had been doing an admirable job of keeping his cool, but Forkle knew that every teenage boy had their breaking point. This was Tam Song’s, apparently. “Well, you know me and Sophie. Brown hair princess is Biana, inferior blond is Dex, brown hair idiot is Fitz, and Forkle is the old guy,” explained the Sencen boy. It was a surprisingly effective way of introducing people. It reminded Forkle of Prentince.

“I love your hair,” Biana told the Song girl. She blushed, but she still gave a polite nod.

“So, why exactly are you here?” questioned the Song boy. “You still haven't told us."

Forkle nodded. "Ms. Foster has made it a point to tell me how useful you two would be for the Black Swan. Should I assume that you don't know about the Black Swan?"

The Song girl looked at Forkle with a confused look. "First of all, doesn't Sophie use they/them pronouns? Also, we know what the black swan is."

Forkle felt a headache coming. The insistent nature of moonchildren were always draining. "I assure you that is just a phase. After all, moonchildren are just like the moon. They change. But the fact that that you two know what the black swan is very helpful. Would that be something you are interested?"

Tam glared at Forkle. "I don't know."

-------

(Sophie, telling Tam Keefe betrayed them in person {Keefe betrayed them because they threatened Tam and by the time they met Tam it was too late to back out})

(Tam,Shared Dream, this is when Sophie and Tam learn why Keefe betrayed them {Where? Alllueverte?})

(Grizel finds a journal in Keefe's room at the Neverseen base describing all of his dreams with his soulmates, but due to presuming they are just his imagination, throws them away.)

(Keefe, at Lumenaria)

(Sophie just breaks down about Amy with Tam and Keefe in a shared dream. She wakes up and realizes she sleep talked, and since she was with her parents, they heard her sleep talking)

(Lady Candence, Tam manages to go to Ravagog, and is impressed with how calm 'he' is)

(Ro, orgres can sense soulmates by scent, but didn't say anything until they are at Keefe's house, with Keefe on bed rest)

(Tam, being in his parents house)

(Bronte overhears a conversation, that will lead into Legacy, that implies Sokam are soulmates)

(Keefe/Tam force Sophie to calm down during Midterms, because yes elves are bad, but you're hurting yourself love)

(Linh, being enhanced and realizing that something must be off with either her ability or atlantis {Cause both times feel similar})

(Biana has a moment with Tam about their shared scars)

(Sophie has a moment with her parents while getting ready for Alvar's Tribunal)

(Tam, w/ shadowflux when Sophie and fitz first get attacked {Think of how this effects him during their visit? Maybe Lady Zillah? Idea: Shades can tell whether or not someone has met their soulmate, she tries to make him say who they are.) —

(Keefe, w/ skills training/ Ro being a pain)

(Lady Zillah realizes that Tam is soulmates with someone, and deduces that they are also a moonchild, which is why he can control shadowflux, at least to her. In reality, any child who experienced childhood trauma can)

(Sophie and Fitz under the tree, only it's Fedex because they're soulmates but can't tell anyone since Alden.)

(Tam, when he has to join the neverseen.)

(Keefe breaks down the fact that Tam is forced to fight against them)

(Sophie decides not to get a match list/ Linh visit)

(Tam being probed, but he manages to not have everything revealed )

(Keefe taking fathomleses, and what the silver journal means is his soulmate dreams)

(Sophie tells the councilors she isn't getting a match list, they are surprised but okay with it. Bronte brings up the idea that Sokam is a thing and Sophie has to come clean)

(Tam has a shared dream and ends up crying because of it)

(Keefe and biscuits.)

(Sophie's abilities are reset much earlier, due to not wanting to know who her biological parents are as much. Similar thing that happens in canon happens here.)

(The final showdown at the king's path. Unlike in canon, Tam is not told what he is supposed to do, Glitter just does it for him. It kind of goes according to plan, but Glitter goes first than Tam, so it kind of backfires and Glitter and Gisela get brutally injured, because Tams hurt Keefe and you aren't supposed to hurt your soulmates so there's a huge backlash. They all escape together, since almost everyone is unconscious)

(Elwin, realizes that they are soulmates by their cells and tells Eda and Grady, who tell everyone else and it kind of spirals. They wake up, and it's like they just manifested {Intense empathy, blacking out from the increased input from the shadows, not being able to block thoughts.)

(Sokam decides to tell the black swan, together. It's a third person omniscient, and that is the climax, with everyone hugging/yelling/slapping them)

({Potential ending}Flash forward, it's their wedding day and they are giving their vows. It's sickeningly sweet. Tam's POV, to end the way we began)

[silas-png]

well I guess it’s official that my mom doesn’t realize that what she said hurts me; we had an argument last night and I cried the whole time. She didn’t do anything. Just kept talking. I told her some mental issues I was having (stuff with my bad memory and a couple telltale signs of ADHD) and she said that it was because of sitting at a desk all day. Then she said that I was obsessed, that all LGBTQ+ people were obsessed with making their gender and sexuality their personality (which was another thing she said could be the cause of my mental health not being great). She asked if it was because I was trans that I wasn’t eating; cause I’m malnourished but I don’t think she’s ever considered seriously that what I say is actually true considering that I’m literally a teenager but yk. She also made me cry three times last night, had to have my dad stop her from talking because I was yelling, crying, and had said outright that I was panicking and overwhelmed, then cried myself to sleep. I really don’t know what to think of her anymore. I mean she said that she cared for me and that she would fight for me, “even if I have to fight you for your health,” as she said, but that last half I just wanted to yell at her. I just wanted to ask her if she had ever considered that maybe she’s the problem, not me? But idk, maybe I just sound spoiled and complaining. I really don’t know anymore. I don’t. And that makes her angry, too.

I know she doesn’t know what being on the other side of her talks is like. She said that to me. Because I asked. She doesn’t know that what she says hurts me, but I feel like me crying a lot should say a lot about what she’s saying. Maybe she thought she was saying the truth or something, cause she kinda wasn’t. I don’t make my being trans my whole personality; I only talk about it because it’s a thing that needs to be talked about, it’s a modern issue and I don’t know how to explain that without sounding stupid.

for the record, I never cry in front of her. So I feel like it should’ve been concerning to her that I was actively sobbing and started yelling. I kept apologizing for things I thought I did wrong, for things I thought you apologized for. Maybe I’m just bad at social cues.

my dad had to stop the argument by telling my mom to stop and me to go to bed. I just whispered thanks then left and cried for a while then fell asleep. But in that single moment dad told my mom to stop I was more thankful than I think I’ve ever been in my whole life.

[mothrite]

Something inside me

REFER TO FOR REQUEST

SUMMERY; Max and Lucas both come to realizations that change their relationship for the better <3

WARNINGS; Slight Internalized Homophobia and transphobia, Billy Hargrove is the worst but he slays in this fic, trans he/they bi max, poly bi Lucas, Lumax, Byclair, Lucas has a crush on this friend and freaks out over it, Max experiences gender euphoria for the first time

AN; I’m so sorry this took so long Anon!!! I really wanted this to turn out well because I fell in love with this idea! Proof read by me againl!! (Btw this takes place pre season 3, post season 2) Ok so like, i started this in late 2022.... it's now late 2023. didnt have the energy to finish this and I want it OUT of my drafts

Max hated it. Max hated every time someone would call them “pretty” “beautiful” or any other term of the sort. They just hated it. They hated being a girl and being told that they should wear more skirts and put their hair up more. They especially hated it when they were told to wear dresses to events. They just wanted to be free and be able to wear what they want. Max didn’t want to be seen as a girl and they weren’t really sure why. They didn’t know how they wanted to be seen

That was until mid June. Max had been forced to go out with their mom to some kind of meeting since Billy and Neil were both out. They had been wearing a hoodie and pants with their usual red vans, the hood covered the top half of their face and their hair was tucked into the back of the hood, in two braids. They weren’t exactly paying attention, mostly just reading random signs that scattered the hallway they were in with their mother when one of their mother’s recent friends approached them. They hadn’t really been listening to the conversation until they heard something that struck a flame in them.

“Oh and your son is so handsome! He just has the most amazing blue eyes!” Max’s head quickly turned to the woman in question who had long black hair and was clad in a flowing blue dress. A smile crept to the corners of Max’s mouth and they tried to cover their now red cheeks that had flushed in embarrassment and flattery. She thought I was a boy? But I look so…ugh.

The smile dropped and their fingers went cold when their mother had spoken up.

“Oh no no no, this is my daughter, Maxine.”

That day as Max was on their way home with their mother they kept thinking about it. Could people truly see them as a boy?

He wasn’t supposed to. He wasn’t supposed to like him and think of him the way he does. Lucas beat himself up for it but he couldn’t deny the fact that he found his best friend, Will Byers, attractive. He couldn’t deny the fact that he gets butterflies when he sees Will smiling and talking to him. His heart would skip a beat whenever Will invited Lucas to hang out. He hated himself for it cause it felt so wrong. He knew he still loved Max. And he knew that it was wrong for a boy to like another boy that way.

He sat in his room, some music playing lowly on a radio that stood on his desk. He forced himself to get up and walk to the phone in the kitchen of his home, though his body resented the action after laying down and doing a whole lot of nothing that day. Just as he was dialing in Max’s number the phone rang and he picked it up.

“Hello-?”

“Lucas! I didn’t think you’d pick up so fast!”

“Will? Is that you?”

“The one and only! I was wondering if we could hang out at your place for a bit? You know just us without Mike and Dustin”

Lucas’s heart beat had quickly sped up at the words and his cheeks became dusted with a shade of dark red.

“That sounds great Byers, see you in 15?”

“See ya! Bye!”

“Bye..”

Lucas Sinclair had a dilemma. One he couldn’t figure out on his own. He knew who he had to speak too, Eleven Hopper.

(MY ASS IS NOT FINISHING THIS GOODBAI.)

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

The meaning of a Name(Sneak peak of Trans Cyrus)

Cerise Borg knew deep down that thqtname did not feel right as the 12 year old stared in the mirror, sitting in her wheelchair for long hours, tugging slightly at her long locks as black as her mother's, even with a slight wave. Her mother had always been proud of her hair but more so proud of the young woman she was supposedly growing into.

She didn't feel like a woman, that name, that identification made her curl into herself a deep sickness climbing up her throat

So she sought answers at the local library to what was ailing her, thank goodness for her the librarian was so open-minded she could guess that was one good thing about her Village all of them were Forward Thinking.

So when she listed off her symptoms, the librarian looked at her with understanding kneeling down beside her wheelchair she questioned, "Have you ever considered yourself as transgender?"

That confused her, brow furrowed as she asked

"transgender?"

A woman held a look of gentleness and patience as she explained,

" it is when your body does not match what is up here." She lightly tapped the side of her head," instead of a little girl being up there, it's a little boy, I would guess. Can I try something?"

She nodded, the Woman took her hands and gently asked

"Hello Cyrus, how may I help you today sir?"

A warmth instantly ran through them, that felt right it felt more right than it had ever, the woman chuckled as they perked up, almost smiling,

"There he is," She gently said making them smile more tucking their head shyly,

The 12 year old didn't know his mother was standing behinds a bookshelf nearby nearly in tears,

Victoria had noticed her child's unusual depressed behavior staring at themselves in the mirrors, fidgeting with things hating the traditional dresses and head coverings or anything feminine really,

She prided herself as a mother for knowing everything that they were going through. This however she thinking back had seen some signs flinching at their name, becoming sad with the wrong pronouns,

But she wouldn't change anything until Cerise told her themselves, she had heard the name picked out by the librarian and she rather liked it a couple of generations ago there had been a Cyrus in their family he was a good man as far as she heard,

"Well, I'm going to go find my mother and read these books. Thank you for your help ma'am" she heard her child say. She pretended to be looking at the cook books as her child wheeled over, eventually finding her

"Find good reading material?"

.

.

So this is very late for Trans Day of Visibility, it'll probably take me another week to complete it so I wanted to post a sneak peek though of when Cyrus as a kid started realizing he didn't feel right as Cerise,

[onmywaytofanfic]

Day 2: Diary

I know that I have been doing the wrong challenge, in terms of the year. But, I have already settled to do it with that one so... sorry

Words: 807 yes it is really short sorry. (Chokako's name is Chikako, but Reina as misspronounced it since she was a baby and everyone knows her by her misspronounced name. She actually likes it, finds it cute. Also, yes Chokako is a trans character and she stated her gender very early and since that moment everyone has addressed her with the correct pronouns and name. So, I hope that nobody comes talking about it so everything is clear. )

-Cho-The lovely lady smiled at her broadly, showing her teeth without shame - You will be in charge of Reina for today okey? - Cho replied laughing happily. - Yes, I am with the baby!! - shouted. She immediately took her humble sandals and started to walk around the compound towards the Aburame home. - Hello!!!! Good morning!!- shouted the girl who was just 5 years old. -Choo- could be heard equally vividly by a tiny squeaking voice. In the garden a toddler. Reina was wearing a shirt too big for her and her barefoot was touching the grass. She giggled when she saw her and started to run to her sister. Chokako hugged her firmly -Chookakoooooo - said the toddler who kept elongating the vowels laughing while doing so. Cho tried to take her in her arms, the soft voice of Takeo looked at them - Chokako are you going to help me with this rebellious bumblebee? - the tall man approached both girls holding a big guard, he then put it on his back. The girl smiled seriously - It’s today’s mission, sir yes sir - Reina was bubbling some words trying to imitate her. 

The small group started their walk towards the rice fields. Reina did not have shoes for her, but the toddler seemed to not care about it. Chokako held her hand firmly while guiding her, they were straight behind Takeo. Aburames were usually in charge of everything related with the agriculture in that place, the overflow of chakra than the seed produced led quite usually to huge plagues that endangered the town’s supplies, or better said Kamo’s cargo. Aburames took good care of all of it, Chokako had lately accompanied her mothers to the repair and construction sites, learning the profession they would tell her; although it was more about learning about everything that was expected from her. However, today they need help keeping an eye on Reina. Nobody told her how, but Shiori’s serious face made her uncomfortable. Something happened, she was sure about it…but what?

-Apa apa gapa ? - said the toddler

-Let grandpa rest, ladybug - Chokako look at Reina

-Buna is ill?- Reina answered by munching her shirt. Nobody answered either of the toddlers. When they reached the rice field, Takehiko and Chio were already there. They just wave their hands. 

-Girls, stay near me okey? - both nodded with their tiny heads. Takeo started to work as was expected of him. He took the guard off his back and opened the jar. He then did some signs using one hand and started to concentrate his chakra, some insects left his body and started to do their routine checking the state of those big fields. While the insects started to work on that, Takeo went into the rice puddles, and started to harvest the rice. The girls looked at him amazed 

-Daice - laughed tiny Reina while giving little jumps. The man looked at both girls - Let me see your palms darlings - both girls offered their hands and the man put some rice on them

-Is brown? - said Chokako amazed by the look that unclean and unprocessed rice had before it was ready to be eaten. Reina tried to munch it - Nooo -shouted and took the rice off. A very agitated conversation started among both toddlers about why they shouldn’t eat that rice. Takeo laughed low and kept working. 

After some hours the girls run out of ideas to play with. Takeo had cleaned almost a whole field, experience and the fact that he was a shinobi for real allowed him to work faster than any worker. He got closer to the girls - What are you doing? - they were drawing with a stick on the Earth. 

-Is a picture of you! -

-PAPA - said Reina, sometimes she got her words right. He felt his heart break in two any time she said that word. - I should write that in a diary.

-What 's diary?

- It’s like a book, but the pages are empty and you write what you want there. Most people write about their day. - The tiny Chokako looked at the mud thinking - Let’s make a diary Reina

-Deina- repeated her. Both girls started to draw in the mud their own particular diary. Chokako could actually write her name and her clan name, but Reina just made a huge mess of sticks and figures. 

-No Reina is not like that - reprehend the kid.

Those were good times, but not the best of them. They kept playing with the mud, practicing more their letters and stick figures, forgetting about the rumbling in their stomachs and about the sounds that visitors made to the rice fields. Forgetting that they were trapped there, so did Takeo.

Takeo Aburame teaching young Chokako Akimichi and Reina Aburame to write their names and family name.